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ENGLISH 

PUBLIC 

SCHOOLS 


ETON 


All  Rights  Reserved 


THE   CHAPEL. 
From  a  Drawing  by  Philip  Norman. 


Frontispiece. 


A   HISTORY   OF 

ETON     C  0  L  L  E  (I  E 


LIONEL    CUST 


NEW    YORK 
CHARLES    S('RIliNEH;S    SONS 

153-157  FIFTH  AVENUE 
1899 


Printed  by 

Ballantynk,  Hanson  &=  Co, 

Ediiiburnh 


PHEFACE 

It  would  seem  as  if  some  apology  were  due  for  the  publica- 
tion of  this  book.  Eton  has  been  a  fruitful,  perhaps  too 
fruitful,  source  of  inspiration  to  writers  of  all  ages  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  attractiveness  of  the  subject 
cannot  be  gainsaid ;  but  it  may  fairly  be  asked,  Why 
write  another  book  when  there  is  nothing  new  to  be  said, 
no  new  record  to  be  discovered ;  why  try  and  glean  in  a 
field  which  has  been  reaped  close,  and  swept  clean,  more- 
over, by  other  gleaners  before  ? 

Yet  the  series  of  English  Public  Schools  in  course  of 
publication  by  Messrs.  Duckworth  &  Co.  could  hardly  be 
complete  without  the  inclusion  of  some  account  of  Eton 
College ;  hence  the  pi'esent  work. 

The  general  history  of  Eton  College  has  been  completed 
and  added  to  from  time  to  time  by  Sir  Henry  Churchill 
Maxwell-Lyte,  K.C.B.,  Deputy-Keeper  of  the  Records, 
than  whom  no  one  by  inclination  or  experience  could 
be  better  fitted  for  his  task.  A  third  edition  of  his  work 
has  just  been  issued  to  the  public.  It  should  be  clearly 
understood  that  no  writer  can  hope   to  add  anything  of 


vi  PREFACE 

importance  to  the  history  of  Eton  College,  as  set  forth  in 
Sir  H.  C.  Maxwell-Lyte's  monumental  work. 

The  history  of  the  buildings  of  Eton  College — a  most 
interesting  subject  in  itself — has  been  set  forth  in  minute 
detail,  and  with  the  greatest  care  and  accuracy,  by  Mr.  John 
Willis  Clark,  Registrary  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
in  the  chapters  on  King's  College  and  Eton  College,  which 
are  embodied  in  the  Arch'itectwal  History  of  the  Uni- 
versity  of  Cambridge,  compiled  by  Mr.  Clark  and  the  late 
Professor  Willis.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  valuable 
contribution  to  the  history  of  Eton  and  King''s  may  some 
day  be  issued  in  a  separate  volume. 

The  general  history  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  so 
closely  associated  with  that  of  Eton  College,  has  recently 
been  set  forth,  in  what  will  probably  prove  a  final  form, 
by  the  present  Provost  of  King's,  the  Rev.  Augustus 
Austen-Leigh. 

The  biographies  of  famous  Etonians  have  been 
collected  by  various  writers,  such  as  Mr.  J.  Heneage 
Jesse  and  Sir  Edward  S.  Creasy,  to  say  nothing  of  so 
famous  a  work  as  Harwood's  Alumni  Etonenses.  They 
are  now  about  to  be  put  into  a  final  shape  in  the  sym- 
pathetic hands  of  Mr  Arthur  C.  Benson.  Mr.  Chetwynd- 
Stapylton's  Eton  Sclwol  Lists  have,  in  spite  of  many 
inaccuracies,  proved  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  information. 

The  various    books   in  which  stories    have  been    col- 


PREFACE  vii 

lected  of  Eton  and  Eton  boys  are  very  numerous,  and 
continue  at  the  present  day  to  multiply  their  progeny. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  those  in  which  the  doughty  deeds 
of  Etonians  on  the  river,  the  cricket-field,  and  elsewhere 
are  recounted  with  Homeric  enthusiasm,  and  {)erhaps  also 
with  something  of  Virgilian  piety. 

With  all  these  books  on  Eton  the  present  volume 
does  not  hope  or  wish  to  compete.  An  attempt  has 
been  made  to  give  a  short  narrative  touching  on  the 
most  important  features  of  the  history  of  Eton  College, 
without  however  making  it  any  the  less  necessary  to 
refer  to  the  more  important  works  of  Sir  H.  C.  Maxwell- 
Lyte  and  Mr.  J.  W.  Clark ;  and  also  to  make  such 
allusion  to  the  various  books  of  reminiscences,  such  as 
Etoniana  and  others,  as  may  create  in  the  stranger, 
not  only  in  the  Etonian,  a  desire  to  become  more 
closely  acquainted  with  the  peculiar  intimate  atmosphere 
which  envelops  Eton  and  Eton  boys,  and  converts 
apparently  trivial  and  commonplace  occurrences  or  say- 
ings into  events  as  important  as  any  recorded  in  Hero- 
dotus, Livy,  or  the  Student's  Hume. 

Thanks  are  specially  due  to  Mr.  Arthur  C.Benson  and 
Mr.  Ingalton  Di'ake  for  permission  to  use  some  of  the 
negatives  taken  in  view  of  Mr.  Benson's  forthcoming- 
work  ;  to  Mr.  Philip  Norman  for  the  use  of  the  beautiful 
drawings  here  reproduced  ;  to  Mr.  Thomas  Carter  for  the 


viii  PREFACE 

use  of  some  new  photographs  taken  by  him  at  Eton  ; 
to  Earl  Waldegrave  for  permission  to  reproduce  the 
portrait  of  the  fifth  Earl ;  and  also  to  Mr.  W.  Essington 
Hughes  for  permission  to  reproduce  the  curious  portrait 
of  the  founder,  Henry  VI.,  which  was  copied  from  the 
original  in  the  British  Museum  at  Mr.  Hughes's  expense. 
The  author  has  also  to  thank  Mr.  Reginald  J.  Smith, 
Q.C.,  for  his  kindness  in  reading  the  proofs,  and  for  much 
sympathetic  advice. 


ETONENSIBUS  OMNIBUS 

UBICUNQUE 

ER    ORBEM    TERRARUM 

DISPERSIS 

HUNC   LIBELLUM 

ETONENSIS    SCRIPTOR 

ETONENSIS    EDITOR 

CONDICAVERUNT 

MDCCCXCIX 


CONTE'NTS 


PREFACE      

V 

CHAP 

I. 

FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  ETON  COLLEGE 

1 

II. 

THE   EARLY    PROVOSTS        

25 

III. 

EARLY  STATUTES,    HEAD-MASTERS,   AND  ETONIANS       . 

45 

IV. 

ETON   IN   THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

81 

V. 

ETON   IN   THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY     .... 

104 

VI. 

BUILDINGS,   SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC 

132 

VII. 

DR.   GOODALL  AND  DR.   KEATE 

153 

VIII. 

DR.   HODGSON   AND   DR.   HAWTREY 

171 

IX. 

REFORMS  AT  ETON    

194 

X. 

ETON   UNDER  THE   NEW  STATUTES            .... 

216 

XI. 

SPORTS  AND   PASTIMES 

233 

XII. 

ETON  AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY 

262 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Chapel Frontispiece 

From  a  Drawing  hv  Philip  Norman. 

Henky  VI To  face  page   3 

From  a  Drawing  in  Harl.  MS.  4205,  at  the 
British  Museum. 

The  School-yard,  Eton  College  ...     „     7 

From  a  Drawing  by  Herbert  Railton. 

Head  of  Waynflete  [?] „  10 

From    a     Windoio    of  Thurhurn's    Chantry, 
c.  1455. 

Thomas  of  Bekynton,  Bishop  of  Bath  and 

Wells „  13 

From  a  MS.  in  the  Library  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge. 

Lupton's  Tower,  from  the  Cloisters    .       .  „  30 

From  a  Drawing  by  Philip  Norman. 

Sir  Henry  Savile ,,  39 

From    the    Oil   Painting    in    the    Provost's 
Lodge,  Eton  Qollege. 

Sir  Henry  Wotton „  44 

From    the    Oil    Painting    in    the    ProvosVs 
Lodge,  Eton  College, 

The  Cloisters,  Eton  College  ....  „  50 

From  a  Drawing  by  Philip  Normnn. 
xiii 


xiv  LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Long  Walk,  Eton  College,  with  the 

Chapel To  face  page  Q() 

From  an  old  Print. 

Richard  Allestree,  D.D „  92 

From    the   Oil  Painting  in    the  ProvosVs 
Lodge,  Eton  College. 

Henry  Godolphin,  D.D ,,  98 

From  the   Oil  Painting  in  the  Provost's 
Lodge,  Eton  College. 

Thomas  Gray,  at  the  Age  of  Fifteen   .  „  109 

From  an  Engraving  hy  J.  Hopwood,  after 
an  Oil  Painting  by  J.  Richardson. 

Edward  Barnard,  D.D ,,  116 

From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  Audit  Room, 
Eton  College. 

John  Foster,  D.D. „  119 

From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  Audit  Room, 
Eton  College. 

Richard  Porson „  124 

From  an  Engraving  in  the   ' '  European 
Magazine. " 

George  Heath,  D.D „  128 

From  the   Oil   Painting  by  J.   Hoppner, 
B.A.fin  the  Audit  Room,  Eton  College. 

Upper  School  and  the  Long  Walk,  from 

THE  South »  133 

From  a  Drawing  by  Philip  Norman. 

General  View  of  Eton  College  in  1688  „  134 

From  an  Engraving  by  D.  Loggan, 

Interior  of  the  College  Hall        .  „  137 


For  Chaules  Old  Goodforu,  read  Edwaku  Cravkn  Hawtrev,  D.D., 
on  illustration  facing  p.  196. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

Lupton's  Tower  and  the  Chapel     .       .     To  face  page  138 
From  a  Photograph  by  Thomas  Carter. 

Joseph  Goodall,  D.D.  ....  „  154 

Front  the   Oil  Painting   by  J.  .Jackson, 

B.A.,  in  the  Provost's  Lodge,  Eton  College. 

Percy  Bysshe  Shelley         ....  „  156 

From  the  Oil  Painting  by  Miss  Amelia 
Curran,  in  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery. 

John  Keate,  D.D.  „  160 

From  a  Pencil  Sketch  in  the  possession  of 
Wm.  Lcveson-Gower. 

View  in  Weston's  Yard      ....  „  170 

From  a  Water-Colour  Drawing  by  Philip 
Norman. 

The  Old  "Christopher"  Inn     ...  „  186 

From  an  old  Engraving. 

Charles  Old  Goodford,  D.D.     ...  „  196 

From  a  Photograph. 

James  John  Hornby,  D.D.  ...  „  214 

From  a  Photograph  by  Hills  <£•  Saunders. 

Eton  College   from  Sheep's  Bridge  in 

the  Play-fields „  236 

From  a  Water-Colour  Drawing  by  Philip 
Norman. 

A  Cricket-Match  at  Eton         ...  ,,240 

From  a  Fish  Strainer, 

The  Eight  Brothers  Lyttelton       .        .  „  244 

Fi-om  a  Photograph. 

The  Wall-Game  of  Football  .        .  „  248 

From  a  Drawing  by  Philip  Norman. 


xvi  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Original  Eton  Fives  Court      .       .     To  face  page  249 

From  a  Photograph  by  Thomas  Carter. 

Edmond  Warre,  D.D ,,  256 

From    a  Photograph  by  Jtustell  <fc  Sons 
( Windsoi'). 

George,  fifth  Earl  Waldegrave    .       .  „  259 

From  a  Painting  in  the  possession  of  Earl 
Waldegrave. 

Interior  View  OF  "  Pop  "    ....  „  263 

From  a  Photograph. 

Back  View  of  the  Old  "Christopher" 

Inn „  266 

From  a  Water-Colour  Draiving  by  Philip 
Norman, 

The  River  Thames  and  the  Brocas  from 

the  North  Terrace,  Windsor  Castle  „  272 

From  a  Water-Colour  Drawing  by  Philip 
Norman. 


ETON    COLLEGE 


FOUNDATION   AND   EARLY   HISTORY 
OF  ETON   COLLEGE 

To  have  founded  a  great  public  school,  which  has  con- 
tinued from  the  date  of  foundation  to  the  present  day 
to  be  the  principal  place  of  education  for  the  sons  of 
the  governing  classes  in  this  country ;  to  have  furnished 
this  school  with  buildings  conspicuous  for  their  beauty, 
uni(}ue  in  some  respects  in  their  constructioji,  and  for 
centuries  sufficiently  adapted  to  their  original  purpose  ; 
to  have  drawn  up  with  his  own  pen  a  series  of  statutes 
which  remained  in  force  with  but  slight  alterations  for 
a  period  of  four  hundred  years — these  are  achievements 
which  might  have  been  expected  of  a  strong  and  law- 
giving monarch  such  as  Edward  I.  or  Henry  VIII.,  a 
scholar  such  as  Erasmus,  a  zealous  Churchman  such  as 
Wolsey  or  Laud,  rather  than  of  a  delicate,  somewhat 
feeble-minded  youth  but  little  more  than  nineteen  years 
of  age.  Yet  the  foundation  of  Eton  College  was  entirely 
due  to  Henry  of  Windsor,  sixth  of  the  name,  '  the  good 
and  holy  youth,''  whom    a   turn   of  fortune's  wheel   had 


2  ETON    COLLEGE 

brought,  when  but  an  infant  in  arms,  to  occupy  an 
unstable  throne  at  the  outset  of  a  cruel  and  internecine 
dynastic  struggle. 

From  his  earliest  youth  Henry  VL  had  been  brought 
up  in  an  atmosphere  of  religion  and  learning.  He  had 
been  baptized  by  the  great  Henry  Chichele,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  whose  services  in  the  cause  of  education 
are  well  known.  His  early  youth  was  passed  under  the 
influence  of  his  uncle  and  first  guardian  and  protector, 
the  scholar-statesman  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
the  Good  Duke  Humphrey  as  he  was  called,  more 
perhaps  from  his  munificent  benefactions  to  scholarship 
and  learning  than  from  his  general  moral  character, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  Subsequently  Henry  had  fallen  almost 
entirely  under  the  control  of  his  great-uncle,  Henry 
Beaufort,  Gloucester's  enemy  and  rival,  who,  when  not 
engaged  on  militant  politics,  may  be  presumed  to  have 
not  neglected  his  position  as  a  Cardinal  of  the  Church. 
Beaufort  was  a  more  powerful  mind  and  a  better 
counsellor  than  Gloucester;  but  the  bitter  contest  for 
supremacy  between  the  two  must  have  been  a  source  of 
trouble  to  the  infant-king,  and  a  bad  augury  of  further 
difficidties  to  come.  Henry's  mind  was  one  ill  constituted 
to  cope  with  the  tempests  and  buffets  of  fortune  with 
which  he  was  fated  to  contend.  From  his  earliest  child- 
hood he  was  inclined  to  works  of  piety  and  devotion.  In 
Windsor  Castle  he  was  accustomed  to  associate  with  the 
youthful  heirs  of  the  nobility,  so  much  so  that  Windsor 


HENRY    VI. 
From  a  Dra^ving  in  Harl.  .MS.  4205,  ai  the  British  Museum. 


To  face  p. 


FOUNDATION    AND    EARLY    HISTORY     3 

became  known  even  in  those  days  as  an  'academy  for 
the  young  nobility/  "  There  was  not  in  the  world," 
writes  Polydore  Vergil,  the  historian,  "  a  more  pure, 
more  honest,  and  more  holy  creature."  Such  were  the 
qualities,  it  may  be  surmised,  which  Henry  would  be 
most  desirous  to  transmit  as  a  legacy  to  his  scholars  at 
Eton  and  Cambridge. 

As  early  as  1439  Henry  had  planned  in  his  mind  the 
foundation  of  Eton  College.  He  had  acquired  certain 
properties  upon  the  site,  and  obtained  leave  from  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  to  appropriate  the  advowson  of  the 
parochial  church  of  Eton  and  convert  it  into  a  collegiate 
church.  He  was  guided  in  his  plans  by  the  older 
foundations  of  William  of  Wykeham  at  Winchester 
and  New  College,  Oxford,  and  also  in  all  probability 
by  the  foundations  of  Archbishop  Chichele  at  Higham 
Ferrers  and  All  Souls',  Oxford.  It  has  been  stated 
that  it  was  John  Langton,  Master  of  Pembroke  College, 
Cambridge,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  St,  David's,  who 
first  suggested  to  the  boy-king  the  idea  of  similar 
foundations  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.  At  all  events,  in 
1440  Henry  paid  more  than  one  visit  himself  to  Win- 
chester, in  order  to  make  himself  personally  acquainted 
with  the  details  of  Wykehanrs  foundation  and  its  actual 
working  in  practice.  It  is  clear  that,  although  the  colleges 
at  Eton  and  King's  College, Cambridge,  were  founded  simul- 
taneously, it  was  not  the  King's  original  intention  to  make 
them  dependent  upon  each  other,  as  in  the  aise  of  Win- 
chester and  New  College,  Oxford.     Whatever  Langton's 


4  ETON    COLLEGE 

influence  may  have  been  at  Cambridge,  it  seems  certain 
that,  as  far  as  Eton  College  was  concerned,  the  King's 
principal  adviser  was  Thomas  of  Bekynton,  a  AVykehamist 
scholar. 

In  September  1440  letters  patent  were  issued  by  the 
King  for  the  constitution  of  a  college  of  Fellows,  priests, 
clerks,  choristers,  poor  scholars,  and  old  poor  men,  with 
one  master  or  governor,  "whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  in- 
struct these  scholars  and  any  others  who  may  resort 
thither  from  any  part  of  England  in  the  knowledge  of 
letters,  and  especially  of  grammar,  without  payment.'''' 

This  was  followed  on  October  10  by  a  Charter  of 
Foundation,  in  the  preamble  to  which,  after  a  panegyric 
on  the  Church,  "  the  Mother  and  Mistress  of  all  who  are 
born  again  in  Christ,"'"'  the  King  states  that  "at  length, 
while  we  were  thinking  over  these  things  with  the  most 
profound  attention,  it  hath  become  a  fixed  purpose  in  our 
heart  to  found  a  college  in  honour  and  in  support  of  that 
our  Mother,  who  is  so  great  and  so  holy,  in  the  Parochial 
Church  of  Eton  near  Windsor,  not  far  from  our  birth- 
place.'' By  this  charter  the  '  King"'s  College  of  our  Lady 
of  Eton  beside  Windsor'  was  constituted  into  a  corpo- 
rate body,  consisting  of  a  Provost,  ten  Fellows,  four 
clerks,  six  choristers,  a  schoolmaster,  twenty-five  poor 
and  indigent  scholars,  and  twenty-five  poor  and  infirm 
men.  It  thus  comprised  the  elements  of  a  college,  a 
grammar-school  and  an  almshouse.  The  Provost  was 
to  have  been  educated  at  Eton  College  or  King's  College, 
Cambridge,    to    have    been    born    in    England,    to   be   a 


FOUNDATION    AND    EARLY    HISTORY     5 

Bachelor  of  Divinity,  Doctor  of  Canon  Law,  or  Master 
of  Arts,  to  be  in  holy  orders,  and  not  less  than  thirty 
years  of  age.  The  Fellows  were  to  be  selected  from  the 
Fellows  or  former  scholars  of  King's,  or  from  present  or 
former  chaplains  of  the  college,  or,  failing  both  these 
sources,  from  the  other  colleges  or  anywhere  else,  accord- 
ing to  the  discretion  of  the  existing  Fellows.  They  were 
to  be  in  priest's  orders,  Bachelors  of  Divinity,  Masters  of 
Canon  Law,  or  Masters  of  Arts.  They  were  not  to  own 
property  of  more  than  .£'10  a  year,  or  be  absent  from 
college  longer  than  six  weeks  at  a  time  without  special 
leave.  The  Provost  was  to  receive  ^75  a  year  (including 
an  allowance  for  tithes),  twelve  yards  of  cloth  at  3s.  6d. 
a  yard,  and  3s.  a  week  for  commons.  He  was  to  keep 
three  servants  {quorum  nnu.s  gcnerosior  domkellus^  (lU'i 
vero  duo  vakcti),  who  were  partly  paid  for  by  the  College. 
The  Fellows  received  ,=£'10  a  year,  six  yards  of  cloth, 
eighteenpence  a  week  for  commons,  and  all  dieta  were  at 
first  paid  in  kind.  A  Provost  was  at  once  appointed,  an 
honour  which  the  King  seems  to  have  intended  for  his  trusty 
friend,  John  Stanbury,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Hereford,  but 
which  he  finally  conferred  upon  Henry  Sever,  his  chaplain 
and  almoner,  then  Chancellor  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
One  of  the  first  Fellows,  with  the  title  of  Vice-Provost, 
was  John  Kette,  who  had  resigned  the  Rectory  of  Eton 
in  order  to  further  Henry's  scheme  of  foundation.  At 
that  date,  in  order  to  carry  through  so  important  a 
scheme,  and  one  so  nearly  connected  with  the  Chiu'ch, 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  obtain  Papal  sanction  for 


6  ETON    COLLEGE 

anything  involving  the  foundation  of  a  new  religious 
institution.  Henry  VL  was  not  likely  to  neglect  his 
duty  in  this  respect.  Frequent  messages  passed  between 
AVindsor  and  Rome,  until  in  January  144f  a  Bull  was 
issued  by  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  giving  sanction  to  all  the 
King's  intentions.  Upon  receipt  of  this  Henry  proceeded 
to  endow  the  new  colleges  at  Eton  and  Cambridge  with 
some  of  the  estates  in  England  which  the  alien  priories 
in  France  and  elsewhere  had  been  compelled  to  sun'ender 
to  the  Crown.  At  Eton  also  he  bought  up  all  the  private 
houses  and  fields  which  lay  within  the  intended  precincts 
of  the  college.  After  making  these  and  other  careful 
provisions,  Henry  proceeded  to  lay  the  first  stone  of  the 
new  collegiate  church,  as  the  most  important  of  the  new 
buildings  already  carefully  planned  out  in  his  mind.  This 
event  seems  to  have  taken  place  on  or  about  June  5, 1441. 
There  are  few  more  picturesque  incidents  in  the  his- 
tory of  England  than  the  foundation  of  Eton  College. 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  in  the  mind  a  bright  leafy  day 
in  June,  with  a  procession  issuing  from  the  gates  of 
Windsor  Castle,  descending  the  hill  under  the  shadow 
of  the  castle  walls,  and  crossing  the  wooden  bridge  over 
the  Thames  on  its  way  to  the  parish  church  of  the 
hamlet  of  Eton.  In  the  centre  would  be  riding  the  youth- 
ful, beardless  King,  while  the  unusual  number  of  prelates 
and  clergy  in  the  procession  would  suffice  to  denote  the 
sacred  character  of  their  errand.  Cardinal  Beaufort, 
then  the  all-powerful  Bishop  of  AVinchester;  AA'^illiam 
of  Alnwick,  then  Bishop  of  Lincoln,   in   whose   diocese 


OS        h/) 


S    '^ 


FOUNDATION    AND    EARLY    HISTORY     7 

Eton  lay ;  William  Ayscough,  Bishop  of  Salisbury ; 
Richard  Andrews,  Dean  of  York  and  first  Warden  of  All 
Souls'  at  Oxford  ;  William  Lyndewode,  most  learned  and 
trusted  of  councillors  ;  and,  probably  nearest  the  King, 
Thomas  of  Bekynton,  the  King's  secretary  and  most  con- 
fidential adviser,  would  have  been  conspicuous  in  the  train. 
Near  the  King,  also,  would  have  ridden  the  most  puissant 
William  de  la  Pole,  then  Earl,  but  afterwards  Marquess, 
and  eventually  Duke  of  Suffolk,  In  such  state  might 
the  King  have  laid  the  first  stone  of  "  the  college  roiall  of 
our  Ladye  of  Eton  by  Windesore,"  the  stone  which  still 
remains  under  the  altar-steps  of  the  present  chapel. 

The  King's  plans  for  the  college  buildings  were  drawn 
up,  after  two  or  three  preliminary  drafts,  in  a  docu- 
ment, still  preserved  in  the  college,  known  as  the  Will 
(or  Intention)  of  King  Henry  VI.  Had  the  King's 
original  plans  been  carried  out,  a  traveller  arriving  by 
the  road  from  Slough  (via  gu£  ducH  versus  le  Sloo), 
after  passing  the  '  Shooting  Fields,'  then  not  yet  ac- 
quired for  the  college,  and  crossing  the  bridge,  known 
later  on  as  '  Fifteen  Arch  Bridge,'  would  have  arrived 
at  the  corner  of  the  stone  wall,  which  was  intended  to 
form  the  boundary  of  the  college,  enclosing  the  '  Kinges 
Werde '  between  the  road  and  the  river  Thames.  A 
little  farther  on  he  would  have  come  to  the  gate  of  the 
college,  and  on  entering  would  have  found  himself  in 
an  outer  court,  with  the  college  service  buildings  on  his 
left  and  the  almshouse  on  his  right.  Crossing  this 
court,    towards    the    right    hand     he    would     have    come 


8  ETON    COLLEGE 

opposite  the  turreted  gateway  of  the  college  buildings, 
within  which  would  have  been  the  chief  quadrangle, 
considerably  larger  than  the  present  cloister.  Round 
this  would  have  been  rows  of  chambers,  one  storey  high, 
a  schoolroom,  a  library,  and  on  the  south  side  the  dining- 
hall  and  the  Provosfs  residence.  On  the  western  side 
of  the  quadrangle  a  postern  door  would  have  led  into  a 
cloister,  corresponding  somewhat  to  the  present  school- 
yard. On  the  south  of  this  cloister  would  have  risen 
the  collegiate  church,  approached  from  the  cloister,  in 
the  western  side  of  which  would  have  risen  a  high 
tower.  Outside  the  cloister  the  stone  boundary  wall, 
mentioned  before,  would  have  been  continued  up  to 
Baldwyn's  ('  Barnes ')  Bridge,  passing  the  old  parish 
church  on  the  site  of  the  present  churchyard,  and  turn- 
ing at  the  bridge  over  the  stream,  which  flowed  thence 
rapidly  into  the  Thames,  would  have  passed  round  the 
kitchen  and  ended  on  the  bank  of  the  back-water,  sur- 
rounding the  ground  now  known  as  '  Fellows'*  Eyot.' 
Special  provisions  were  made  for  'enhancing''  certain 
buildings  as  a  protection  against  floods,  then,  as  now,  the 
cause  of  much  perplexing  trouble  and  inconvenience. 

Of  this  plan,  or  Intention,  the  only  portions  to  be 
carried  out  were  the  dining-hall,  the  kitchen,  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  church.  No  record  has  been  preserved 
of  the  King''s  amended  plans  for  the  existing  buildings, 
or  the  actual  date  at  which  he  changed  his  mind.  The 
building  accounts  have  been  preserved,  and  are  unusually 
complete.    They  commence  on  July  3, 1441.    June  5, 1441, 


FOUNDATION    AND    EARLY    HISTORY     9 

is  spoken  of  in  the  accounts  as  '  Dedication  Day,'  and  may 
perhaps  for  this  reason  be  accepted  as  the  date  on  which 
the  first  stone  was  laid  by  the  King.  The  general  super- 
intendence of  the  buildings  was  entrusted  to  William  de 
la  Pole,  Earl  of  Suffolk.  Full  details  are  given  in  the 
accounts  of  the  stone,  bricks,  timber,  and  other  materials 
employed  in  the  construction  of  the  buildings.  The 
timber,  much  of  which  was  transported  by  the  river,  was 
stored  in  a  field  opposite  the  college,  then  known  as  the 
'  timbrehawes,*'  a  name  still  surviving  in  '  The  Timbralls.' 
One  Jourdelay  is  named  among  those  employed  upon  the 
works,  and  he  is  paid  "  for  brede  and  hale  and  chese 
for  workemen  and  laboras,  taking  the  groundes  of  the 
college  thorow  the  pondis  in  to  the  college.""  This  house 
seems  to  have  been  used  as  a  hostelry  for  strangers  and 
their  horses,  and  his  name  still  survives  in  'Jordelay''s 
Place,'  one  of  the  houses  at  present  occupied  by  an 
assistant-master.  The  building  accounts  contain  many 
interesting  particulars  concerning  the  master  of  the  works, 
the  clerk  of  the  works,  the  masons,  carpenters,  smiths, 
purveyors,  and  others,  with  their  wages,  hours  of  work, 
rules,  fines,  &c.,  for  which  those  curious  in  these  matters 
must  be  referred  to  the  careful  extracts  and  abstracts 
given  in  the  account  of  Eton  College,  which  is  embodied 
in  Willis  and  Clark's  Architectural  History  of  the  IJyiiver- 
.sity  of  Cambridge. 

Under  the  revised  plans,  the  buildings  were  arranged 
very  differently  to  those  given  in  the  King's  'Will.' 
They  were  practically  reduced  to  a  cloistered  quadrangle 


10  ETON    COLLEGE 

for  the  Provost  and  Fellows,  with  a  library,  dining-hall, 
and  necessary  offices,  a  collegiate  church,  and  a  detached 
building  containing  dormitories  for  the  boys,  school-rooms, 
and  residences  for  the  Master  and  Usher.  By  the  summer 
of  1443,  if  not  earlier,  some  considerable  portion  of  these 
buildings  was  far  enough  advanced  to  admit  of  occupa- 
tion. As  early  as  the  Papal  Bull  of  January  1441  the 
names  are  given,  in  addition  to  those  of  the  Provost 
and  V  ice-Provost,  of  two  Priest-Fellows,  two  clerks,  four 
choristers,  two  scholars,  and  two  bedesmen,  who  must  have 
been  quartered  upon  the  neighbouring  inhabitants.  The 
Founder  now  paid  further  visits  to  Winchester,  and  in 
consequence  took  a  step  fraught  with  the  utmost  im- 
portance for  the  history  and  welfare  of  Eton  College. 
He  persuaded  William  of  ^\'^aynflete  (William  Patyn, 
born  at  Wainfleet,  in  Lincolnshire,  about  1395),  the 
Master  of  Winchester  College,  to  remove  to  the  new 
college  at  Eton  as  its  first  Master.  Waynflete  brought 
with  him  five  Fellows  and  thirty-five  scholars  to  form  a 
nucleus  for  the  school ;  this  is  the  number  recorded  by 
tradition,  though  it  does  not  agree  with  the  Registers  at 
Winchester  itself.  Waynflete  had  been  a  fellow- pupil 
of  Bekynton  at  Winchester,  and  was  on  terms  of  great 
personal  friendship  with  him.  In  1443  Henry  VL  re-cast 
his  whole  foundation  in  order  to  bring  the  numbers 
more  into  conformity  with  those  at  Winchester.  Sever 
relinquished  the  post  of  Provost  to  William  of  Waynflete, 
and  was  rewarded  in  February  145f  wdth  the  Warden- 
ship  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  where  he  died,  and  was 


HEAD   OK    WAYNFLETE    [?] 
From  a  Window  of  Thurburn  s  Chantry,  c.  1455. 


lo/acef.  10. 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     11 

buried  in  1471.  The  numbers  on  the  foundation  were 
fixed  at  a  Provost,  ten  Priest-Fellows,  ten  chaplains,  ten 
clerks,  sixteen  choristers,  seventy  poor  scholars,  a  Head- 
master, an  Usher,  and  thirteen  bedesmen. 

At  the  same  time  the  Founder  took  a  new  step  with 
regard  to  the  sister  foundation  at  King's  College,  Cam- 
bridge, dedicated  "  to  the  honour  of  almighty  and  immacu- 
late Virgin  Mary,  mother  of  Christ,  and  also  of  the  glorious 
confessors  and  Bishop  Nicholas,  patron  of  my  intended 
college,  on  whose  festival  we  first  saw  the  light."  It  is 
touching  to  note  the  solicitude  with  which  Henry  con- 
nected his  foundations  at  Eton  and  Cambridge  with  his 
own  life.  He  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  buildings  at 
Cambridge  on  April  2,  1441,  two  months  before  the 
similar  ceremony  at  Eton.  With  the  subsequent  history 
of  King's  College  and  its  glorious  chapel  these  pages 
cannot,  however,  deal.  In  1443,  however,  Henry,  acting 
no  doubt  under  the  advice  of  Waynflete,  decided  to  con- 
nect the  colleges  of  Eton  and  King's  College,  Cambridge, 
together,  like  those  of  Winchester  and  New  College, 
Oxford,  in  order  to  provide  for  the  safe  progression  of 
the  best  of  his  Eton  scholars  to  the  University.  With 
these  new  departures  the  actual  history  of  the  school 
at  Eton  may  be  said  to  begin. 

In  November  1443,  during  the  progress  of  the  new 
buildings  at  Eton,  an  interesting  ceremony  took  place 
in  the  ])arochial  church.  Thomas  of  Bekynton,  the 
King's  secretary,  and  without  doubt  his  most  confiden- 
tial friend  and  adviser  in  the  plans  of  the  College  and  its 


12  ETON    COLLEGE 

foundation,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells. 
At  Bekynton's  special  wish  the  ceremony  took  place  at 
Eton,  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln,  Salisbury,  and  Llandaff 
officiating.  The  new  collegiate  church  stood  unfinished 
hard  by,  and  a  temporary  altar  was  prepared  under  an 
awning  and  directly  over  the  foundation  stone.  Thither 
Bishop  Bekynton  proceeded  after  his  consecration  in  the 
parochial  church,  and  celebrated  his  first  mass  in  full 
pontificals.  After  the  service  Bekynton  entertained  his 
visitors  in  the  new  school  buildings,  et  in  novajahrica 
collegii  ibidem  ex  parte  horiali  dimi  adhuc  camerce  non 
erant  condistlnctce  subtus  tenuit  convicium.  It  is  not 
quite  clear  in  what  room  this  banquet  was  held.  The 
text  of  the  entry  in  his  register  leaves  it  doubtful  whether 
the  room  was  on  the  ground  floor  or  above,  '  Long 
Chamber '  bears  traces  of  completion  at  a  later  date, 
but  may  have  been  planned  out  among  the  first  buildings. 
In  this  way  a  series  of  Etonian  bishops  was  inaugurated 
from  Bekynton  of  Bath  and  AVells  in  1443  to  Welldon 
of  Calcutta  in  1898. 

In  the  following  December  another  ceremony  took 
place  in  the  same  choir,  the  first  after  its  completion, 
and  one  of  deeper  import  to  the  college.  At  this  ceremony 
Bekynton  officiated  with  the  Earl  of  Suffolk  as  the  King's 
commissioners.  William  of  Waynflete  was  solemnly 
installed  as  Provost  in  accordance  with  the  revised 
statutes,  and  received  the  oath  of  allegiance  from  the 
Fellows,  scholars,  and  other  existing  members  of  the 
foundation.      For    four    hundred    years    and    more    the 


7* 


THOMAS   Ol'"    BEKYNTON,    lilSIIOl'    UF    BATH    AND    W  El.i.S. 
From  a  MS.  in  the  Library  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 


To  face  p.  13. 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     13 

corporate  body,  formed  on  this  occasion,  remained  practi- 
cally unaltered  in  its  scheme,  if  not  maintained  in  its 
entirety.  The  tie  thus  formed  between  the  foundations 
of  William  of  Wykeham  at  Winchester  and  Oxford  and 
these  of  Henry  VI.  at  Eton  and  Cambridge  was  further 
cemented  by  a  covenant  {AmkahUis  Concordia)  drawn 
up  between  them  for  their  mutual  support  and  assistance 
in  the  case  of  need. 

During  the  progress  of  the  buildings  at  Eton,  Henry 
VI.  continued  to  make  numerous  provisions  for  the 
endowment  and  welfare  of  the  College.  Bekynton  was 
his  chief  agent  in  the  matter.  In  September  1443 
Bekynton  obtained  leave  from  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  to 
invest  the  Provost  of  Eton  with  special  archidiaconal 
jurisdiction  in  the  parish  of  Eton,  on  condition  of  a 
small  annual  payment  to  the  Archdeacon  of  Buckingham- 
shire, which  was,  until  lately,  paid  annually  by  the  College. 
He  then  proceeded  to  solicit  the  Pope,  on  behalf  of  the 
King,  for  further  and  special  favours.  In  order  to  attract 
strangers  to  Eton,  indulgences  of  a  very  special  nature 
had  been  granted  by  the  Pope  to  all  penitents  visiting  the 
collegiate  church  of  Eton  at  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption, 
each  penitent  being  expected  to  contribute  towards  the 
maintenance  of  the  College,  and  advised  to  offer  prayei's 
for  the  Founder.  In  May  1444  a  fresh  Bull  was  issued, 
considerably  extending,  while  confirming,  the  indulgences 
already  granted  to  Eton  College.  In  consequence  of 
this  and  subsecjuent  advantages  the  number  of  pilgrims 
to  the  new  college  was  very  large.     Their  contributions. 


14  ETON    COLLEGE 

however,  to  the  cost  of  the  buildings  hardly  seem  to  have 
covered  the  expenses  of  their  entertainment.  To  provide 
for  the  food  and  lodging  of  visitors  on  such  occasions, 
in  addition  to  an  annual  gift  of  red  Gascon  wine  from  the 
King,  an  annual  fair  was  established  to  last  during  the 
six  days  after  the  Feast  itself.  A  similar  fair  was 
instituted  during  the  three  days  succeeding  Ash  Wednes- 
day for  a  similar  reason.  Both  these  fairs  were  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  Provost  of  Eton,  and  survived 
in  modified  forms  until  quite  recent  days.  The  College 
also  was  allowed  a  weekly  market,  a  very  exceptional  privi- 
lege. The  College  was  besides  exempted  from  subsidies 
and  other  imposts.  Furthermore,  as  the  Provost  was 
compelled  to  make  frequent  journeys  to  London  to  consult 
with  the  King,  he  was  granted  the  Hospital  of  St.  James, 
then  used  for  lepers,  and  standing  apart  in  the  fields 
near  Westminster.  Books,  ornaments,  vestments,  relics, 
and  the  like  were  provided  for  the  College  on  the  petition 
of  the  Provost  and  Fellows. 

On  April  11,  1447,  Cardinal  Beaufort,  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  died,  leaving  in  his  will  legacies  of  money, 
with  valuable  jewels  and  relics,  to  Eton  College.  These 
legacies  were,  however,  of  less  import  to  the  college  than 
the  actual  event  of  Beaufort's  death,  and  the  vacancy 
caused  by  it  in  the  important  see  of  Winchester.  Henry 
VI.  hurriedly  nominated  William  of  Waynflete  to  the 
see,  anticipating  not  only  the  wishes  of  the  Chapter  at 
Winchester,  but  even  the  right  of  nomination  exercised 
by  the  Pope.     The  latter  difficulty  was  easily  arranged  ; 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     15 

but  Waynflete  himself  seems  to  have  shown  no  desire 
to  leave  Eton  and  break  off  the  work  which  he  had  been 
the  first  to  set  in  motion.  It  is  recorded  that  the  com- 
missioners came  from  Winchester  with  the  royal  conge 
cfelire,  and  found  the  Provost  at  prayers  in  the  old 
parish  church.  Some  persuasion  was  necessary  to  make 
him  obey  the  command.  In  July  1447  the  Provost  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Winchester  in  the  church  at  Eton, 
and  afterwards,  by  special  permission  of  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  held  his  first  ordination  on  the  same  spot. 

The  removal  from  Eton  of  so  important  an  individual 
as  William  of  Waynflete  might  have  been  disastrous  to 
the  future  of  the  college.  It  proved,  however,  the  reverse. 
As  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  afterwards  as  Lord  High 
Chancellor,  Waynflete  became  one  of  the  most  powerful 
men  in  England,  so  long  as  the  Lancastrian  cause  was 
in  the  ascendant.  Even  during  its  eclipse  his  position 
in  the  Church  remained  unshaken.  Eton  College  thus 
obtained  a  champion  and  protector  more  powerful  under 
the  circumstances  than  even  the  Founder  himself. 

Meanwhile  the  Founder  had  made  an  important 
alteration  in  the  plans  for  the  buildings  at  Eton  College. 
Whether  it  was  the  growing  importance  of  Eton  as  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  and  a  centre  of  religious  thought 
and  practice,  or  nothing  more  than  an  increasing  de- 
sire to  expand  and  further  a  pet  hobby,  Henry  was 
dissatisfied  with  the  plans  of  the  new  collegiate  church, 
and  substituted  for  them  a  plan  on  a  vastly  extended 
scale.     Perhaps  the  real    moving    cause    was   a    wish    to 


16  ETON    COLLEGE 

bestow  on  the  Church,  to  which  he  was  so  much  devoted, 
an  edifice  which  would  be  one  of  the  glories  of  Christen- 
dom, and  obtain  for  its  founder  the  thankful  prayers  of 
future  generations.  Roger  Keys,  then  master  of  the 
works,  was  instructed  to  draw  out  new  plans.  Had  these 
been  carried  out  the  new  church  would  have  been,  so  far 
as  its  simple  construction  of  nave  and  choir  allowed, 
greater  in  size  and  dimensions  than  any  church  in 
England  save  York  Minster  and  the  present  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral. 

The  new  church  was  to  be  erected  in  the  Pure  Per- 
pendicular Style,  of  which  the  portion  completed  remains 
such  a  conspicuous  and  typical  example.  A  choir,  with 
a  Lady  Chapel  at  the  eastern  end,  would  have  opened 
out  into  a  nave  with  aisles.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
whether  any  additions  would  have  been  made  to  this 
simple  plan,  since  the  only  part  to  be  completed  was  the 
choir,  which,  without  the  Lady  Chapel,  forms  the  present 
well-known  '  Chapel.'  Had  the  nave  been  completed,  the 
church  would  have  extended  a  considerable  way  down 
what  is  now  known  as  Keate's  Lane.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
among  the  benefactors  to  Eton,  William  de  la  Pole,  now 
Marquess,  but  soon  to  be  Duke  of  Suffolk,  contributed  a 
sum  towards  building  the  church  exceeding  at  the  moment 
the  contributions  of  the  other  chief  contributors — the 
King,  AVaynflete,  and  Bishop  Ayscough  of  Salisbury — all 
put  together. 

Another   favour    conferred    by    the   Founder   on    his 
colleges    at    Eton    and    Cambridge    was    the    grant    of 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     17 

armorial  bearings.  The  flower  most  connected  with 
the  Virgin  Mary,  to  whom  Eton  College  was  dedicated, 
is  the  lily,  and  a  combination  of  white  lilies  with  the 
royal  arms  of  France  and  England,  and  in  the  case  of 
King's  College  with  the  crozier  of  St.  Nicholas,  seems  to 
have  been  in  use  in  Waynflete's  day.  The  actual  grants 
of  these  armorial  bearings  were  not  issued  until  January 
144|.  In  these  the  Founder  explains  the  significance 
of  the  charges.  The  sable  ground  denoted  the  perpetuity 
of  the  foundation,  and  the  thi'ee  white  lily-flowers  (with- 
out stalks  or  leaves)  the  service  of  God  and  the  blessed 
and  immaculate  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  Christ.  "  The 
chief  of  the  shield  was  to  contain  a  portion  of  the  royal 
arms  of  France  and  England,  in  order  to  impart  some- 
thing of  royal  nobility,  which  may  declare  the  work  truly 
royal  and  illustrious.'"  In  the  case  of  King's  College,  the 
sable  ground  was  charged  with  three  white  roses,  as 
"  bright  flowers  redolent  with  every  kind  of  learning." 
Similar  roses  form  part  of  the  armorial  bearings  of  Win- 
chester College. 

In  such  a  way  did  the  new  college  at  Eton  rise  and 
flourish  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Founder  himself. 
Clouds,  however,  began  to  rise  upon  the  political  horizon, 
though  few  could  have  prognosticated  the  terrible  storm 
which  was  to  break  upon  the  land,  and  the  cruel  dynastic 
struggle  which,  besides  devastating  England,  swept  away 
the  Founder  of  Eton  College.  In  fact  the  College 
narrowly  escaped  being  cast  into  the  same  gulf  of  de- 
struction   as    the    hapless     Henry    himself.       In     1452 


18  ETON    COLLEGE 

Margaret  of  Anjou  gave  l)irth  to  a  long-desired  son. 
She  sent  two  messengers  to  Eton  College  to  announce 
the  news,  which  was  received  with  joy  there,  prohably 
as  an  augury  of  a  continuous  enjoyment  of  royal  favour. 
In  the  following  year  Henry's  mind  gave  way,  and  he 
became  incapable  of  managing  his  affairs.  His  cousin, 
Richard,  Duke  of  York,  who  had  been  until  the  birth  of 
the  prince  the  next  heir  to  the  throne,  was  appointed 
Protector.  The  rivalry  between  him  and  Queen  Margaret 
had  already  been  shown  in  more  than  one  way.  From  this 
time,  however,  it  was  converted  into  open  hostility,  which 
formed  a  short  prelude  to  the  disastrous  Wars  of  the  Roses. 
During  this  terrible  time  the  works  at  Eton  were 
carried  on  with  great  difficulty,  and  eventually  suspended 
altogether.  The  choir  of  the  new  church  had  been 
nearly  completed,  but  the  nave  not  even  commenced. 
The  quadrangle  and  cloister  were  nearly  completed  save 
on  the  western  side.  The  dining-hall  was  finished  by 
1450.  The  scholars'  buildings  opposite  the  church  with 
the  Master's  house  were  nearly  finished,  although  only 
some  portions  seem  to  have  been  in  use.  The  supply 
of  money  had  ceased  with  the  capture  and  incapacity 
of  the  Founder  and  the  execution  of  the  Duke  of 
Suffolk.  The  whole  future  of  the  college  depended  on 
the  whim  of  one  man,  Edward,  Duke  of  York,  whose 
hand  was  on  the  crown.  Was  it  likely  that  during  so 
heated  a  struggle  as  that  of  the  Yorkist  and  Lan- 
castrian causes  any  of  the  specially  wealthy  foundations 
or  possessions  of  the  latter  should  escape  spoliation  ? 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     19 

Fortunately  for  Eton  College  Waynflete  had  been 
succeeded,  first  as  Master  and  then  as  Provost,  by  a 
man  who  was  equal  to  the  crisis.  William  \V'estburv 
came  from  Winchester  to  Eton  to  succeed  \Vaynflete 
in  the  management  of  the  school.  He  was  elected 
Provost  in  November  1447 — Waynflete's  actual  suc- 
cessor, John  Clerk,  having  died  five  months  after  his 
election — and  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  the  heir 
and  recipient  of  Waynflete's  intentions  with  regard  to 
the  future  of  the  college.  When  it  was  evident  that 
the  Lancastrian  cause  was  ruined,  AVestbury  showed  un- 
expected powers  as  a  diplomatist.  In  February  146'',' 
he  sought  direct  protection  from  Edward,  then  still 
Duke  of  York,  who  signed  a  deed  to  protect  the  Pro- 
vost and  Fellows  of  Eton,  in  which  he  is  described  as 
"  by  ye  grace  of  God  of  Englande  Fraunce  &  Irlande 
vray  and  just  heire."  This  seems  a  surprising  act  of 
tergiversation  on  the  part  of  a  college  whose  Founder 
was  alive  and  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  the  usurping 
prince.  The  line  taken  by  the  Provost  and  Felloes 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  politic,  for  in  a  few  months 
all  Lancastrian  grants  were  revoked  except  those  to 
Eton.  The  danger,  however,  was  not  yet  past.  Edward 
had  established  himself  at  Windsor  Castle,  and  having 
no  particular  interest  in  Eton,  which  he  probably  re- 
garded as  Henry's  special  hobby,  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  annex  the  whole  foundation  to  one  in  which  he  took 
a  personal  interest,  that  of  St.  George"'s  Chapel  in 
Windsor  Castle.    The  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  George''s 


20  ETON    COLLEGE 

were  only  too  willing,  and  with  their  help  Edward  had 
little  trouble  in  obtaining  a  Ikill  from  Pope  Pius  II.  to 
carry  the  amalgamation  into  effect.  The  Chapter  of  St. 
George's  at  once  laid  hands  upon  all  the  portable  wealth 
at  Eton  College  and  removed  it  to  Windsor. 

The  lion  was,  however,  roused  in  Provost  Westbury, 
IJefore  the  Papal  Bull  was  received  he  went  to  London 
and  proclaimed  his  lawful  claim  to  the  Provostship, 
and  claimed  thereby  the  special  protection  of  the  Pope. 
To  the  Pope  he  declared  that  as  Provost  he  would  never 
be  a  consenting  party  to  the  suppression  of  the  College. 
In  this  action  he  was  of  course  supported  by  Waynflete, 
who,  although  his  political  influence  had  waned,  still 
held  one  of  the  most  commanding  positions  in  the 
Church.  Clement  Smyth,  who,  after  being  Master  of 
Chichele's  school  at  Higham  Ferrers,  had  succeeded  West- 
bury  as  Master,  and  been  transferred  to  the  more  lucrative 
post  at  Winchester,  returned  to  Eton  and  resumed  his 
post  to  support  AVestbury  at  this  critical  time.  West- 
bury's  efforts  were  crowned  with  success.  He  seems  to 
have  expended  much  time  and  energy  in  assiduous  court 
to  the  great  nobles  and  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the 
Church.  Edward  was  easy-going  and  indolent,  careless 
of  both  religion  and  politics,  and  ready  to  cancel  one 
day  any  order  or  grant  which  he  had  made  the  day 
before.  His  position  on  the  throne  was  precarious,  and 
depended  on  the  support  of  the  great  nobles,  who  had 
already  begun  to  look  upon  Eton  as  the  obvious  place 
of    education   for   their    sons.      At    all    events,   he   was 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY  HISTORY     21 

induced  to  ask  the  Pope  to  revoke  the  Bull  on  the 
plea  of  erroneous  information.  As  the  Bull  uniting 
the  foundations  of  Eton  and  Windsor  was  issued  by 
his  predecessor  and  not  by  himself,  Pope  Paul  II.  thought 
himself  able  to  give  a  cautious  though  sufficient  assent. 
Westbury's  triumph  was  almost  complete,  though  the 
legal  business  connected  with  the  revocation  of  the  Bull 
seems  to  have  been  immense.  Matters  were  complicated 
by  the  unexpected  restoration  of  Henry  VI.  to  the 
throne,  which  must  have  been  the  cause  of  great  re- 
joicing to  Eton  College.  The  Provost  and  Fellows 
seem  to  have  acted  diplomatically  in  the  matter,  and, 
while  being  true  in  their  devotion  to  their  royal  Founder, 
they  managed  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  his  enemy  and 
the  usurper  of  his  crown.  The  Founder  was,  however, 
soon  dethroned  again,  and  had  been  but  a  few  weeks  in 
his  grave  when  Edward  IV.,  now  recognised  as  King, 
paid  with  his  Queen  the  first  of  frequent  visits  to  Eton. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  with  certainty  for  the 
change  in  Edward's  treatment  of  Eton  College.  Tradi- 
tion, never  a  safe  guide,  but  one  which  should  not  be 
entirely  ignored,  has  attributed  it  to  the  infiucnce  of 
the  beautiful  Jane  Shore,  Edward's  mistress,  and  her 
memory  has  been  cherished  at  both  Eton  and  King's 
for  this  reason,  and  her  frailty  excused  by  the  extent 
of  the  benefits  obtained  from  her  intercession.  There 
is  indeed  no  reason  for  discrediting  this  particular  tradi- 
tion. Sir  Thomas  More  says,  that  "  where  the  King 
toke    displeasure    she    could    mitigate    and   appease    his 


22  ETON    COLLEGE 

niiiul ;  when  men  were  out  of  faver,  she  could  bring 
them  in  his  grace."  The  Provost  and  Fellows  of  Eton 
were  not  likely  to  neglect  any  means  of  influencing 
Edward  IV.  It  would  seem,  however,  quite  possible 
that  the  influence  exerted  upon  Edward  was  much  more 
legitimate,  namely,  that  of  his  Queen,  Elizabeth  Widvile. 
Elizabeth  accompanied  Edward  on  several  of  his  visits 
to  Eton.  Her  brother,  Anthony,  Earl  Rivers,  was  a 
scholar  and  a  patron  of  learning,  and  is  known  to 
have  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
college.  His  services  to  the  College  were  sufficient  to 
ensure  a  daily  mass,  at  which  prayers  were  said  for 
Edward  IV.,  Queen  Elizabeth,  their  children,  and  for 
Earl  Rivers,  and  even  his  parents  and  other  relations. 

W^hether  through  the  influence  of  '  Shore's  wife,'' 
or  of  Elizabeth,  the  '  upstart '  Queen,  Eton  College 
was  preserved  from  destruction.  It  suffered,  however, 
severely  in  lands  and  revenues.  The  building  opera- 
tions, so  grievously  interrupted,  were  resumed  in  1469, 
but  funds  were  very  short.  It  remains  to  be  stated 
that  but  for  the  generosity  of  Bishop  Waynflete  they 
would  in  all  probability  never  have  been  completed  at 
all.  This  is  all  the  more  remarkable,  inasmuch  as  W^ayn- 
flete  was  at  the  time  engaged  on  his  own  foundation  at 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  It  was,  if  not  hopeless,  at 
all  events  undesirable  that  the  church  should  be  com- 
pleted on  the  scale  designed  by  the  Founder.  The 
portion  completed  was  finished  off,  and  an  ante-chapel 
added  in  the  place  of  the  nave.     The  church  as  com- 


FOUNDATION  AND  EARLY   HISTORY     23 

pleted  now  took  the  place  of  the  old  parish  church, 
which  Avas  demolished.  The  school  buildings  were  also 
completed,  and  a  boys'  chamber  is  mentioned  as  early 
as  1470,  which  was  probably,  but  not  certainly,  identical 
with  Long  Chamber.  The  impoverishment  of  the  College 
enabled  the  Provost  and  Fellows  to  dispense  with  some 
of  the  original  members  of  the  foundation,  such  as  the 
bedesmen  and  the  almshouse,  and  the  somewhat  un- 
necessary large  number  of  chaplains. 

Provost  Westbury  died  in  1477.  The  Fellows  nomi- 
nated as  his  successor  a  late  Vice-Provost,  Thomas 
Barker,  who,  however,  gave  way  to  Henry  Bost,  the 
nominee  of  the  crown.  It  has  been  stated  that  it  was 
to  the  time  of  Provost  Bost  that  the  legend  of  Jane 
Shore  should  be  applied.  His  epitaph,  however,  dis- 
tinctly alludes  to  his  having  used  his  influence  to  obtain 
sums  from  the  legitimate  consort  of  the  King. 

Richard  III.  during  his  short  reign,  in  spite  of  his 
hatred  of  the  Widvile  family  and  their  friends,  such  as 
the  Etonian  Archbishop  Rotherham,  and  his  specially 
vindictive  persecution  of  Jane  Shore,  does  not  appear 
to  have  troubled  his  mind  much  with  the  affairs  of 
Eton  College. 

The  union  of  the  Houses  of  Y^ork  and  Lancaster 
under  Henry  VII.  was  the  signal  for  an  epoch  of  pro- 
sperity for  Eton  College.  Henry  VII.  is  stated,  but  on 
very  doubtful  authority,  to  have  actually  been  himself 
a  scholar  in  Eton  College.  This  would  hardly  seem 
to    have    been    possible,    for    until    1470,   his   fourteejith 


24  ETON    COLLEGE 

year,  Henry  was  brought  up  in  Wales.  He  only  came 
to  London  during  the  short  restoration  of  Henry  VL 
to  the  throne,  when  the  King  may  have  wished  to  place 
him  at  Eton.  A  few  months  later,  however,  Henry  was 
a  refugee  in  Brittany,  where  he  remained  during  the 
whole  of  Edward  IV. 's  reign.  Shortly  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Henry  VIL,  in  1486,  William  of  Waynflete  died. 
With  his  death  the  first  epoch  in  the  history  of  Eton 
College  may  be  said  to  have  come  to  an  end. 


II 

THE   EARLY   PROVOSTS 

When  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  the  White 
and  Red  Roses,  were  at  last  united  under  the  sway  of 
Henry  VIL,  Eton  College  and  other  similar  institutions 
enjoyed  a  few  years  of  tranquil  prosperity.  The  vicinity 
of  Eton  College  to  Windsor  Castle  has  always  rendered 
it  peculiarly  susceptible  to  the  varying  breezes  of  royal 
favour.  Seizing  their  opportunity  the  colleges  of  Eton 
and  King's  px'esented  a  petition  to  the  King,  and  explained 
therein  the  losses  which  they  had  sustained  during  the 
Civil  Wars,  They  were  successful  in  recovering  some 
of  the  possessions  of  which  they  had  been  despoiled  by 
Edward  IV.,  and  as  the  re-establishment  of  peace  once 
more  unloosed  the  fountains  of  private  beneficence,  they 
received  further  endowments  by  gift  or  bequest.  The 
Church  became  rich  with  jewels,  plate,  and  sacred  images. 
Visits  were  paid  to  the  College  by  the  King,  the  Papal 
Legate,  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln  and  Chichester,  and  other 
eminent  persons,  who  were  handsomely  entertained  in 
csculentis  et  poculcntis  by  the  Provost.  Beyond  this  and 
the  succession  of  Roger  Lupton  as  Provost  upon  the 
death  of  Provost  Bost,  there  is  little  to  record  in  the 
history  of  Eton  College  under  Henry  VII. 

25 


26  ETON    COLLEGE 

Henry  VI IL  visited  Eton  soon  after  his  accession, 
and  the  repute  and  importance  of  the  College  was  shown 
by  visits  from  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor Audley,  and  other  dignitaries  of  State  or  Church. 
This  very  importance  was  in  itself  a  source  of  danger. 
During  the  general  appropriation  of  ecclesiastical  endow- 
ments and  revenues,  which  marked  the  establishment  of 
the  reformed  religion  in  England,  the  endowments  and 
properties  of  Eton  College,  though  duly  scheduled  and 
valued,  were  exempted,  as  were  those  of  Winchester,  the 
two  schools  being  regarded  as  part  of  the  two  Univer- 
sities. The  danger,  however,  was  a  real  one.  Thomas 
Cromwell,  the  King's  secretary,  was  only  able  to  main- 
tain himself  in  the  royal  favour  by  supplying  the  King 
with  money.  Provost  Lupton  did  his  best  to  keep  on 
good  terms  with  the  King  and  with  the  all-powerful 
arch-enemy,  Cromwell,  Henry^s  appetite  for  the  spoils  of 
the  Church  was  too  omnivorous,  his  wallet  too  capacious, 
for  so  fat  a  prize  as  Eton  College  to  escape.  In 
1531  Cromwell  extorted  from  the  College  the  valuable 
property  of  St.  James''s-in-the-Fields  at  Westminster, 
consisting  of  some  one  hundred  and  eighty  or  more 
acres  of  land  "between  Charing  Cross  and  Aye  Hill.'''' 
The  College  was  allowed  to  retain  some  property  in  the 
north  of  London  at  Hampstead,  and  received  in  exchange 
lands  in  Kent  and  Suffolk,  the  value  of  which  could  never, 
even  at  that  date,  have  been  an  equivalent  to  that  of  the 
land  between  London  and  Westminster.  The  College  still 
retains  the  property  in  North  London,  and  its  value  is  now 


THE   EARLY    PROVOSTS  27 

sufficient  to  make  the  College  sadly  rue  the  day  when  Pro- 
vost Lupton  surrendered  to  the  King  the  Hospital  of  St, 
James,  The  College,  however,  probably  incurred  further 
peril  by  falling  under  the  royal  displeasure,  Edward 
Powell,  a  noted  preacher  at  Court,  had  been  Head-master 
of  Eton  for  two  or  three  years  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  opposing  the 
divorce  of  the  King  from  Katherine  of  An'agon,  and  in 
refusing  to  acknowledge  the  royal  supremacy  in  the 
Church.  Powell  therefore  shared  the  fate  of  Sir  Thomas 
More  and  Bishop  Fisher  on  the  scaffold  at  Smithfield. 
The  goods  and  property  of  the  College  were  again  all  duly 
valued  and  scheduled  for  seizure  if  required  in  the  Act 
for  the  Dissolution  of  Colleges,  Chantries,  and  Free 
Chapels  at  the  King's  Pleasure,  and  the  endowments 
would  have  shared  this  fate  had  not  the  King  died 
before  he  had  an  opportunity  for  carrying  out  his 
rapacious  intentions.  '■'■  Fcriifi  omnia  Jupiter  Argos 
TranstuUt''''  writes  sadly  the  author  of  a  survey  of  the 
College  property  in  1545. 

Under  Edward  VI.,  another  boy-king  like  the 
Founder,  and  also  a  reputed  saint,  it  might  have  been 
supposed  that  Eton  College  would  have  been  specially 
favoured  with  royal  patronage.  As  it  was,  the  danger 
of  sequestration  became  more  acute.  The  Protector, 
Edward,  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  the  King''s  other  advisers 
were  so  violent  and  bigoted  in  their  desire  to  enforce  the 
reformed  Church  upon  the  country,  that  they  determined 
in  the  King's  name    to   seize  and   suppress   all    existing 


28  ETON    COLLEGE 

schools  and  colleges,  and  after  purging  them  of  any  taints 
of  nionasticisni  which  might  linger  about  them,  to  re- 
establish them  as  new  schools  "  to  good  and  godly  uses," 
in  which  the  Church  could  have  no  power.  Eton  and 
Winchester  were  again  saved  by  their  connection  with  the 
Universities.  It  may,  however,  be  conjectured  that  it  was 
the  support  and  strenuous  opposition  of  the  nobles  which 
saved  Eton  and  Winchester  from  the  boy-king''s  pious  desire 
to  remodel  everything  upon  his  own  little  dry  and  narrow 
plan,  with  a  neat  little  bust  of  himself  over  the  principal 
entrance,  as  the  Defender  of  the  Faith  and  patron  of  true 
learning  and  knowledge.  Though  Eton  was  saved,  the 
King's  hand  was  felt  heavily  in  the  College.  The  dedica- 
tion of  the  College  to  the  Virgin  Mary  was  expunged,  the 
Feast  of  the  Dedication  and  other  prominent  saints'  days 
abolished,  the  altars,  relics,  images,  and  other  ornaments 
in  the  church  destroyed  or  appropriated,  and  the  library 
purified  of  all  superstitious  books.  If  the  scholars  and  other 
students  were  to  be  allowed  to  receive  their  education 
at  Eton  and  Cambridge  in  the  way  intended  by  their 
Founder,  Edward  VI.  was  determined  that  they  should 
do  so  under  a  system  of  his  own.  During  the  short  reign 
of  Mary  Tudor  and  the  reprisals  inflicted  by  the  Catholic 
Church  in  return  for  the  oppressive  bigotry  of  the  pre- 
ceding reign,  much  was  restored  and  rejjlaced  in  the 
chapel,  and  the  old  ritual  revived.  The  Provost,  nomi- 
nated by  Mary,  stood  high  in  the  Queen's  favour.  More 
than  one  prominent  Etonian  went  to  the  stake  during 
the  miserable  religious  war  Avhich  ensued,  but  the  College 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  99 

appears  to  have  been  safer  in  the  hands  of  Mary  Tudor 
than  in  those  of  her  father  or  brother.  With  the  acces- 
sion of  Elizabeth,  whose  view  of  all  ecclesiastical  questions 
was  broad  and  liberal,  Eton  College  was  relieved  from 
any  further  danger.  The  Queen  was  cautious  and  de- 
liberate in  promoting  the  cause  of  the  reformed  religion 
into  England,  and  accomplished  its  eventual  supremacy 
by  a  policy  of  slow  and  gradual  infusion,  instead  of  a 
violent  and  polemic  insistence. 

During  this  period  of  the  history  of  Eton  College,  its 
outward  history  is  mainly  that  of  its  Provosts,  It  has 
always  been  a  contested  point,  whether  the  Founder  by 
his  statutes  invested  the  Fellows  with  the  right  of  elect- 
ing their  own  Provost,  or  whether  this  privilege  was 
retained  by  the  Crown.  The  Founder  during  his  own 
lifetime  certainly  exercised  the  right  of  appointment  to 
this  post,  and  his  successors  on  the  throne  claimed  the 
same  power.  The  Fellows  always  contested  the  claim  of 
the  Crown,  and  on  nearly  every  occasion  made  an  effort 
to  assert  and  establish  their  right.  The  Crown,  however, 
usually  got  its  way,  with  the  result  that  the  Provosts  of 
Eton  for  some  generations,  as  the  nominees  of  the  Crown, 
were  continually  brought  into  personal  contact  with  the 
sovereign.  The  safety  of  the  College  revenues  during 
these  checkered  times  may  be  attributed  in  a  large 
degree  to  the  influence  of  the  Provost  in  person. 

Provost  Bost  undoubtedly  exeix-ised  a  great  personal 
influence  at  the  court  of  Edward  IV.  and  Elizabeth  Wid- 
vile,  and  later  of  Henry  VII.  and  Elizabeth  of  York.     He 


30  ETON    COLLEGE 

died  on  February  7,  1503,  and  was  buried  in  the  ante- 
chapel  ;  a  monumental  brass  for  many  years  marked  his 
grave,  but  was  in  recent  years  removed,  incorrectly  re- 
paired, and  fixed  to  the  wall  of  Lupton''s  Chapel.  Bost 
was  succeeded  by  Roger  Lupton.  Lupton  had  founded  a 
grammar  school  at  Sedbergh,  in  Yorkshire,  which  had 
been  improved  away  by  the  pious  Edward.  He  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  College,  but  it  remains  uncertain  whether 
he  was  elected  Fellow  only  one  day  prior  to  his  election, 
as  generally  recorded,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  hold  the 
Provostship,  or  whether  he  may  not  be  identical  with  the 
Roger  Sutton  (sic)  elected  Fellow  in  March  1488.  Lupton 
was  more  remarkable  for  what  he  did  than  for  what  he 
was  as  Provost,  although  excuse  may  be  made  for  the  way 
in  which  he  was  harried  by  Secretary  Cromwell.  He  seems 
to. have  been  of  a  pliable  disposition,  and  to  have  yielded 
in  every  way,  perhaps  wisely,  to  the  pressure  of  cir- 
cumstances under  Henry  VIII.  In  July  1534  Provost 
Lupton  and  the  Fellows  acknowledged  the  royal  supre- 
macy and  repudiated  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope. 
Lupton  too  suri'endered  to  the  King  the  valuable  Lon- 
don property,  alluded  to  before,  and  narrowly  escaped 
being  swallowed  up  himself,  College,  Fellows,  and  all 
their  revenues,  in  the  greedy  maw  of  the  new  Defender 
of  the  Faith. 

Provost  Lupton,  however,  left  an  enduring  mark 
upon  the  College,  whereby  his  name  will  ever  remain 
linked  with  its  history.  Up  to  his  time  the  college  and 
school-buildings  had  remained  much  in  the  same  condition 


LliPTON's    TOWER,    KKOM    THE    CLOISTERS. 
From  a  Drawing  by  Pkilif>  Norman. 


To  face  p.  30. 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  31 

as  when  left  by  Waynflete.  The  church,  as  has  been 
stated,  had  been  hastily  completed  by  the  ante-chapel 
in  place  of  the  projected  nave;  the  cloister-quadrangle 
was  complete  on  the  north,  east,  and  south  sides,  but 
the  western  side  had  remained  unfinished.  In  the  school 
quadrangle  the  rooms  of  the  masters  and  scholars,  with 
school-rooms  beneath  them,  occupied  a  detached  building 
on  the  north  side.  A  new  chamber  for  the  boys  in 
college  is  mentioned  in  the  Audit  Book  for  1507-8. 
Perhaps  Long  Chamber  was  remodelled  or  rebuilt ;  for 
although  it  resembles  the  earlier  buildings  of  Henry  VL, 
and  seems  to  be  certainly  the  room  mentioned  in  1468, 
it  may  have  been  remodelled  by  Provost  Lupton.  A  new 
school  is  mentioned  as  built  in  1514-15,  the  exact  position 
of  which  is  uncertain.  Lupton's  chief  addition  to  the 
college  buildings  was  the  completion — begun  in  1500, 
and  finished  in  1520 — of  the  western  side  of  the  cloister- 
quadrangle,  forming  the  eastern  side  of  the  present  school- 
yard. Externally,  the  chief  feature  was  the  insertion 
of  the  great  square  tower,  known  as  Lupton's  Tower, 
breaking  into  the  line  of  the  quadrangle ;  internally,  his 
alterations  involved  the  removal  of  the  Provost's  apart- 
ments to  the  northern  part  of  the  western  side,  instead 
of  its  old  location  with  an  approach  from  the  hall, 
and  the  construction  of  a  fine  suite  of  apartments 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  \'isitors  at  Election  time, 
and  also  for  the  College  library.  The  large  room,  known 
as  the  '  Provost's  Hall,'  or  '  Election  Hall,'  seems  to 
have  been  originally   intended   for  the   library.     Among 


32  ETON    COLLEGE 

other  minor  additions  to  the  school  buildings,  Lupton 
built  at  his  own  cost  the  well-known  chantry  in  the 
chapel,  between  two  of  the  gi'eat  buttresses  on  the 
northern  side  towards  the  east  end  of  the  chapel.  A 
rebus  of  his  name,  a  tun^  or  barrel,  bearing  the  letters 
lAip  upon  it,  forms  part  of  the  decorations  of  this 
chantry.  In  this  chantry  Lupton  himself  was  buried 
after  his  death  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  or  more,  in 
February  1540,  he  having  resigned  the  Provostship  some 
five  years  before.  He  bequeathed  certain  sums  of  money 
to  the  Foundation  of  Eton,  to  be  paid  on  the  anniversary 
of  his  death,  part  of  which  bequest  still  survives  in  the 
annual  payment  to  the  King''s  Scholars  on  'Threepenny 
Day,""  February  27.  Lupton  was  succeeded  as  Provost 
by  a  former  Head-master,  Robert  Aldrich.  Aldrich  was 
a  man  of  note  in  his  day.  He  was  an  Eton  man,  and 
proceeded  to  King''s  College,  Cambridge,  in  1507,  and 
became  Master  of  Eton  in  1515.  As  a  scholar  he  was 
a  friend  of  Erasmus,  who  describes  him  as  J  uvenis  hlanda; 
cujusdam  eloquentice,  and,  as  a  diplomatist,  he  was 
selected  by  the  King  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  sent 
by  Henry  VHI.  to  the  Pope  in  1533,  on  the  question 
of  the  divorce  of  Katherine  of  Arragon.  He  was  Canon 
of  Windsor  and  Chancellor  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter, 
and  compiled  the  famous  Black  Book  of  the  Order,  which 
has  been  kept  up  and  continued  to  the  present  day,  and 
is  now  in  the  custody  of  the  Dean  of  Windsor.  Aldrich 
was  Almoner  to  Jane  Seymour,  and  in  high  favour  at 
Court.     Subsequently  he  was  made  Bishop   of  Carlisle, 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  33 

and  held  this  post  jointly  with  the  Provostship,  until  he 
resigned  the  latter  in  1547.  Aldrich  was  more  of  a 
courtier  than  a  divine,  and  his  tenure  of  the  Provostship 
was  more  remarkable  for  dignity  and  splendour  than  for 
any  tangible  benefits  conferred  upon  the  College.  Shortly 
before  his  resignation  there  was  interred  in  the  chapel 
the  body  of  John  Longland,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  in 
that  capacity  Visitor  of  Eton  College.  Longland  had 
taken  a  strong  personal  interest  in  Eton,  and  by  his  will 
was  a  benefactor  to  the  College,  especially  to  the  library. 
His  affection  for  the  College  was  shown  by  his  direc- 
tions that  his  body  should  be  taken  there  for  inter- 
ment in  the  chapel,  while  his  heart  was  to  be  buried 
in  Lincoln  Cathedral,  and  his  entrails  at  Woburn,  where 
he  died  in  1547. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  Provost  Aldrich  the  appoint- 
ment fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Protector  Somerset.  It 
was  too  valuable  and  influential  a  piece  of  patronage  to 
be  thrown  away,  and  Somerset  did  not  hesitate  in  his 
decision.  Although  the  Eellows  claimed  a  nominal  right 
of  election,  it  was  under  a  conge  (Vclrre  from  the  Crown. 
Somerset,  in  Edward's  name,  in  defiance  of  the  Founder's 
statutes,  recjuested  them  to  elect  Thomas  Smith,  a  learned 
man  and  scholar,  then  Master  of  Ilecjuests,  the  King  in  his 
letter  giving  his  special  dispensation  for  the  breach  of  the 
statute ;  the  said  Thomas  was  '  not  priste  or  doctor  of 
divinitie.'  As  a  matter  of  fact  Smith  seems  to  have  been 
ordained  a  priest  in  1546,  and  was  even  made  Dean  of 
Carlisle  at  the  same  time  as  his  election  to  the  Provostship 


54  ETON    COLLEGE 

of  Eton.  Nevertheless  he  became  Secretary  of  State  and 
was  knighted,  and  therefore  had  many  other  interests  than 
those  of  Eton  to  preside  over.  He  was  a  devoted  adherent 
of  Somerset,  and  under  his  superintendence  the  College 
was  carefully  purged  of  its  Roman  Catholic  ornaments  and 
appanages.  Sir  Thomas  Smith  was  manned,  and  lived  in 
great  state  in  the  Provost's  lodge.  On  the  strength  of 
the  Provosfs  marriage  some  of  the  Fellows  followed  suit, 
in  spite  of  the  express  direction  in  the  statutes.  In  some 
ways  Smith  was  well  fitted  for  his  post,  although  he 
seems  to  have  never  been  on  good  terms  with  the  Fellows. 
He  is  principally  remarkable  for  his  having  introduced 
into  England  a  pronunciation  of  Greek  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  Erasmus.  The  Greek  language  has 
been  pronounced  accordingly  at  Eton  and  throughout 
England.  The  correctness  of  this  pronunciation  was  hardly 
questioned  until  the  resuscitation  of  Greece  as  a  living 
country,  and  the  actual  use  of  the  language  as  a  means 
of  conversation,  showed  that  the  pronunciation  as  fixed 
in  schools  was  an  artificial  convention.  When  Edward 
VI. 's  short  life  and  reign  was  ended,  and  his  sister  Mary 
had  secured  the  throne,  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  besides  sup- 
porting the  cause  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  held  too  conspicuous 
a  post  as  Provost  of  Eton,  and  a  zealous  Reformer  withal, 
to  make  it  likely  that  he  would  remain  unmolested,  even 
if  he  was  not  in  more  actual  peril.  He  was  prudent 
enough  to  resign  before  any  inquiry  was  instituted  into 
his  tenure  of  the  Provostship  and  his  compliance  with 
the    statutes   as    to    priesthood    and    marriage,      Henry 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  35 

Cole,  Archdeacon  of  Ely  and  Canon  of  Westminster, 
was  thrust  upon  the  College  as  Provost,  a  fervent  Catholic 
'  more  earnest  than  wise,""  who  did  his  hest  to  obliterate 
what  he  considered  the  ravages  of  the  Reformers.  Other- 
wise Cole  left  but  little  mark  upon  Eton.  The  one  his- 
torical incident  connected  with  his  Provostship  was  his 
selection  to  preach  the  sermon  at  St.  Mary's,  Oxford, 
which  was  to  precede  the  execution  of  Archbishop 
Crannier,  resulting  in  a  scene  which  may  be  said  to 
have  been  literally  burnt  into  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  England,  Cole  was  afterwards  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
Vicar-General  to  Cardinal  Pole,  and  a  zealous  hunter  of 
heretics.  Less  prudent  than  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Cole 
did  not  resign  his  Provostship  on  the  death  of  his  patrons 
Queen  Mary  and  Cardinal  Pole,  holding  it  until  at  last 
he  was  deprived  for  contumacious  behaviour  and  com- 
mittetl  to  the  Fleet  Prison,  and  to  subsequent  oblivion. 
In  the  room  of  Provost  Cole  the  post  of  Provost  of  Eton 
was  conferred  by  royal  command,  though  ostensibly  by 
election  of  the  Vice-Provost  and  Fellows  after  admission  as 
Fellow,  on  July  5,  1559,  upon  William  Bill,  D.D.,  a 
man  of  wisdom  and  experience,  who  had  already  been 
Master  in  succession  of  St.  John's  and  Trinity  Colleges  at 
Cambridge,  until  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary,  when  he 
had  been  deprived.  Provost  liill  stood  high  in  the  favour 
of  the  new  Queen,  Elizabeth.  In  addition  to  the  Provost- 
ship of  Eton,  he  was  appointed  Dean  of  Westminster  and 
Chief  Almoner  to  the  Queen,  and  was  also  restored  to  the 
Mastership   of  Trinity    College,  Cambridge.     Elizabeth, 


36  ETON    COLLEGE 

moreover,  entrusted  to  Dr.  Bill  the  re-foundation  of 
Henry  VIIL''s  school  at  Westminster.  Provost  Bill  was 
cautious  in  introducing  fresh  ecclesiastical  changes  into 
the  great  institutions  under  his  charge,  but  his  careful 
policy  seems  to  have  been  the  starting-point  for  the 
gradual  diffusion  and  establishment  of  the  Protestant 
faith  as  the  dominant  religious  power  in  England.  His 
period  of  office  at  Eton  was  too  short  to  allow  of  any 
great  or  sweeping  changes  in  the  administration  of  the 
College.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  chief  action 
which  can  be  attributed  to  him  was  the  whitewashing 
of  the  interesting  fresco-paintings  in  the  chapel,  which 
had  escaped  even  the  reforming  zeal  of  Edward  VI.  and 
the  Duke  of  Somerset. 

Provost  Bill  died  in  1561.  Under  his  easy  rule  the 
Fellows  had  had  it  much  their  own  way,  and  they 
thought  the  election  of  a  new  Provost  an  opportunity 
for  attempting  to  assert  their  rights.  Without  wait- 
ing for  the  royal  command  they  chose  and  elected  to 
be  Provost  Richard  Binierne,  a  Fellow  of  Eton  and 
anon  of  Christ  Church,  but  one  'of  whom  there  is 
isperst  verv  evil  fame,"'  as  his  enemies  alleged.  The 
Jrown  took  up  the  challenge.  By  the  Founder's  statutes 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  appointed  Visitor 
of  the  College  in  addition  to  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln. 
Matthew  Parker,  then  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Home,  were  therefore  sent 
down  to  make  a  visitation  of  the  College  in  September 
1561.     The  opposing  forces  were  easily  routed.     Brueme 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  37 

resigned,  thereby  escaping  expulsion,  and  afterwards 
became  a  Canon  of  Windsor  and  Rector  of  Mapledurham. 
Three  of  the  Fellows,  Kyrton,  Ashbrooke,  and  Pratt,  with 
one  of  the  chaplains,  Legge,  were  expelled,  and  another, 
John  Durston,  was  only  allowed  to  remain  until  the 
ensuing  Michaelmas. 

Several  candidates  were  submitted  by  Archbishop 
Parker  and  Bishop  Grindal  for  the  Queen's  considera- 
tion. She  selected  William  Day,  an  Eton  and  King"'s 
scholar,  and  a  pronounced  advocate  of  the  reformed 
religion.  Day,  after  being  admitted  as  Fellow  in  order 
to  abide  by  the  statutes,  was  therefore  elected  Provost 
on  December  18,  1561. 

Provost  Day  resumed  the  work  of  reform  initiated 
under  Edward  VI.  by  Provost  Sir  Thomas  Smith.  He 
cleared  out  of  the  chapel  any  traces  which  still  remained 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  ritual,  including  what  nnist  have 
been  a  rood-loft  of  particular  beauty.  He  introduced 
some  broad  and  sweeping  reforms  into  the  College  estab- 
lishment itself.  He  married,  although  a  priest,  and 
thereby  incurred  for  some  time  the  Queen's  displeasure. 
He  obtained  from  the  Queen  in  1565  a  very  important 
dispensation,  whereby  the  Fellows  of  the  College  were 
allowed  to  hold,  in  addition  to  their  Fellowship,  one 
benefice  above  the  value  of  ten  pounds  per  annion,  but 
not  exceeding  the  value  of  fifty  marks.  This  dispensa- 
tion remained  a  charter  of  liberty  for  the  Fellows, 
though  its  actual  scope  was  called  into  question  and 
finally  settled   as   late  as   1815.     Some  religious  observ- 


38  ETON    COLLEGE 

ances,  fast  becoming  of  an  obsolete  nature,  were  also 
dispensed  with.  Day  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  having 
as  his  Vice-Provost,  and  as  such  the  chief  manager  of 
the  school,  a  man  who  was  not  only  his  brother-in-law, 
but  also  one  of  the  leading  Churchmen  of  Elizabeth's 
reign,  William  Wickham,  afterwards  Bishop  in  succes- 
sion of  Lincoln  and  Winchester. 

Queen  Elizabeth  visited  Eton  College,  and  was  enter- 
tained by  Provost  Day  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
Other  exalted  personages  were  also  his  guests  in  the 
College.  A  doubtful  honour  was  conferred  on  the  Pro- 
vost when  the  French  Ambassador,  who  had  been  placed 
under  compulsory  restraint,  was  lodged  in  the  College. 
Much  scandal  and  disorder  ensued,  and  the  Provost  was 
not  only  grievously  annoyed,  but  was  even  subjected 
to  personal  insult,  by  his  unsought-for  foreign  guests. 
Provost  Day,  in  spite  of  his  Puritanism,  ruled  the  College 
well.  He  is  spoken  of  as  '  our  good  old  Provost,'  and  as 
affable,  courteous,  a  good  and  intelligible  preacher,  and 
noted  for  learning  as  well  as  for  piety.  He  held  the 
Provostship  for  thirty-four  years,  and  from  1573  the 
Deanery  of  Windsor  as  well.  In  November  1575  he 
was  elevated  to  the  Bishopric  of  Winchester,  when  he 
resigned  the  Provostship,  but  survived  his  new  dignity 
only  a  few  months. 

Elizabeth  had  some  difficulty  in  filling  the  post,  not, 
however,  for  want  of  candidates.  Mr.  Secretary  Cecil 
therefore  wrote  in  the  following  January  to  the  Vice- 
Provost   and   Fellows,  ordering    them    to  suspend    for  a 


SIR    HENRY   SAVILE. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  Provost's  Lodge,  Eton  College. 


To  face  p.  39. 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  39 

time  the  election  to  the  vacant  Provostship.  The  most 
eager  applicant  was  Henry  Savile,  AV^arden  of  Merton 
College,  at  Oxford,  who  had  formerly  been  the  Queen's 
instructor  in  the  Greek  language,  and  stood  high  in  her 
estimation.  However  much  Elizabeth  may  have  wished 
to  advance  Savile,  she  did  not  show  the  same  readiness 
as  her  brother  Edward  to  violate  the  Founder's  statutes 
and  appoint  a  Provost  who  was  not,  or  was  only  nonii- 
nally,  a  priest.  Savile,  however,  importuned  her  for 
the  post,  and  eventually  through  the  influence  of  the 
Earl  of  Essex  and  of  Lord  Burghley,  he  was  successful. 
He  was  made  Provost  in  May  1596,  "any  statute,  act, 
or  canon  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.""  Savile's 
appointment  was  very  successful.  He  had  been  a  strong 
and  severe  ruler  at  Oxford,  and  brought  the  same 
system  to  Eton.  In  1604  he  entertained  James  L  at 
Eton,  and  was  knighted  by  the  King.  Savile  made 
Eton  the  centre  of  a  learned  company  of  scholars. 
Having  devoted  his  leisure  to  an  edition  of  the  works 
of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  he  determined  to  print  it  under 
his  own  supervision.  A  new  range  of  buildings  had 
lately  been  erected  on  the  western  side  of  the  Provost's 
stable-yard  abutting  on  the  highroad  to  Slough.  In 
this  building,  which  still  remains  as  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  in  Eton,  and  was  until  lately  the  residence 
of  the  Head-master,  Provost  Savile,  the  '  Lay-Bishop ' 
as  his  contemporaries  called  him,  set  up  his  printing- 
press.  He  obtained  a  special  fount  of  type  from  Holland 
known  as  the  '  silver  letter,'  engaged  the  services  of  the 


40  ETON    COLLEGE 

King's  printer,  John  Norton,  and  commenced  his  work. 
A  few  smaller  Greek  works  were  issued  in  addition  to 
the  famous  edition  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  which  was 
issued  in  eight  folio  volumes,  and  took  three  years  to 
produce.  Savile  also  had  a  share  in  the  translation  of 
the  Bible,  which  still  remains  the  authorised  version. 

Under  Sir  Henry  Savile  Eton  College  occupied  a  very 
high  position  among  learned  societies  in  Europe.  This 
was  mainly  due  to  the  Provost's  personal  influence.  Both 
Oxford  and  Eton  owe  much  to  his  learning,  his  muni- 
ficence, and  his  wise  and  experienced  government.  It 
is  to  Savile  probably  that  the  study  of  Greek  at  Eton 
owes  its  first  signs  of  progress,  together  with  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Greek  Grammar  originally  compiled  by 
William  Camden  the  historian,  and  known  later  as  the 
Eton  Greek  Ch'arnmar.  Savile  died  at  Eton  on  February 
1621-2,  and  was  buried  there.  James  I.  had  no  in- 
tention of  letting  this  important  piece  of  patronage  slip 
through  his  hands.  He  had,  in  fact,  promised  the  post 
to  Thomas  Murray,  a  Scotchman,  who  had  been  tutor 
to  Charles  when  Prince  of  Wales,  and  whose  nephew, 
William  Murray,  afterwards  Earl  of  Dysart,  is  said  to 
have  acted  as  '  whipping  -  boy '  to  the  young  prince. 
Murray  seems  to  have  had  no  particular  qualifications 
to  succeed  a  man  like  Sir  Henry  Savile.  He  was  an 
alien  moreover,  had  no  university  degree,  and  was  no 
priest.  The  famous  Lord  Keeper  Williams  was  then 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  and  Visitor  of  the  College,  and 
objected    strongly  to    Murray's  appointment.     He  could 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  41 

not,  however,  withstand  the  royal  mandate,  although 
he  managed  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  Fellows  to  a 
voice  in  the  election.  Murray,  however,  only  retained 
the  post  into  which  he  had  thus  been  thrust  for  one 
year,  and  would  have  left  no  mark  on  the  history  of 
Eton  College  had  not  a  fine  and  sumptuous  Jacobean 
monument  been  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  Chapel, 
as  the  Collegiate  Church  at  Eton  seems  to  have  been 
styled  from  about  this  date. 

During  the  illness  of  Provost  Murray  intrigues  were 
busy  and  frequent  with  regard  to  his  successor  in  this 
valuable  post.  Two  prominent  diplomatists,  neither  of 
them  Etonians — Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  who  had  man-ied 
Provost  Savile\s  step-daughter,  and  Sir  Henry  Wotton — 
had  angled  for  the  post  before  Savile's  death.  They 
again  became  candidates.  The  post  had  been  practically 
promised  to  one  Sir  William  Beecher,  clerk  of  the  Privy 
Council.  The  King  was  disposed  to  give  it  to  Sir  Robert 
Ayton,  a  Scotchman  like  Murray,  who  had  been  secretary 
to  Queen  Anne.  Ayton's  application  was  addressed  to 
James  I.  in  verse,  which  may  have  been  the  origin  of 
that  sage  monarch's  approbation,  apart  from  his  notorious 
penchant  for  Scotchmen.  Murray ''s  widow  also  appears 
to  have  intimated  her  willingness  to  remain  in  the  lodge 
as  Lady  Ayton.  Other  candidates  were  Sir  Ralph  Free- 
man, Master  of  Requests,  who  was  connected  by  mar- 
riage with  liuckingham.  Sir  Robert  Naunton,  Secretary  of 
State,  and  Sir  Albertus  Morton,  an  Etonian,  step-nephew 
to  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  secretary  to  Princess  Elizabeth  at 


42  ETON    COLLEGE 

Heidelberg,  and  clerk  to  the  Council.  Most  formidable, 
however,  of  all  the  candidates  was  the  great  Francis 
Bacon,  Viscount  St.  Albans,  so  sadly  fallen  from  the  high 
estate  of  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England.  That  Bacon 
eagerly  desired  the  post  is  evident  from  his  letters  to  Sir 
Edward  Conway,  then  Secretary  of  State.  Bacon  says 
that  the  Provostship  'were  a  pretty  Cell  for  my  For- 
tune,' and  particularly  suited  to  him,  'specially  in  the 
spent  houreglass  of  such  a  life  as  myne.''  It  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  history  of  England  at  this  moment  that, 
among  all  these  candidates  James  was  unable,  or  did  not 
dare,  to  decide  in  the  absence  of  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, who  was  then  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  Spain. 
Bishop  Williams  in  fact  wrote  himself  to  Buckingham,  as 
the  person  in  whose  power  wholly  the  nomination  lay. 
Buckingham,  however,  was  not  going  to  hurry  home 
for  such  a  trifle,  and  the  candidates  were  obliged  to  Avait 
in  uncertainty  for  Buckingham's  return.  Somehow^  or 
the  other  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  who  had  aspired  to  the 
higher  position  of  Secretary  of  State,  importuned  or 
cajoled  Buckingham  the  most  successfully,  and  obtained 
the  Provostship,  to  which  he  was  elected  on  June  24, 
1624,  nominally  by  royal  mandate,  but  really  by  the 
mere  favour  of  Buckingham. 

In  spite  of  the  somewhat  ignoble  circumstances  of 
the  struggle  for  the  Provostship,  Sir  Henry  Wotton  has 
left  a  fragrant  memory  at  Eton.  Wotton  was  in  many 
ways  the  ideal  English  gentleman.  He  was  an  elegant 
scholar,  and    a    successful    dabbler   in    literature.     As   a 


THE    EARLY    PROVOSTS  43 

diplomatist  at  Venice  and  elsewhere  he  was  the  precursor 
of  the  hest  kind  of  ambassador;  at  Venice  especially  his 
name  is  still  cherished  with  affection.  Perhaps  much  of 
the  pleasant  romance  which  surrounds  Wotton's  name  is 
due  to  his  friendship  with  Izaak  Walton,  the  '  Angler,' 
beloved  of  all  true  Englishmen,  and  the  inimitable 
biography  which  Walton  wrote  of  his  friend.  At  Black 
Pots,  a  bend  in  the  river  now  desecrated  by  the  bridge 
of  the  South-Western  Railway,  the  two  friends  are  said 
to  have  sat  and  angled,  and  to  have  written  verses  bv 
the  peaceful  gliding  river. 

AVotton  was  conscientious  enough  to  conform  to  the 
Founder's  statutes  by  entering  holy  orders.  He  was  thus 
enabled,  as  he  himself  writes  in  a  letter  to  Charles  I., 
"  for  the  point  of  conscience  ...  to  hold  my  place 
canonically,  which  I  held  before  but  dispensativelv,  and 
withal  I  can  exercise  an  archidiaconal  authority  annexed 
thereunto,  though  of  small  extent,  and  no  benefit,  yet 
sometimes  of  pious  and  necessary  use."  He  was  also 
ready  "  for  the  next  good  Deanery  that  shall  be  vacant 
by  Death  or  Remove." 

"  I  comfort  myself  also,"  adds  Wotton,  "  with  this 
Christian  hope,  that  Gentlemen  and  Knights'  sons,  who 
are  trained  up  with  us  in  a  Seminary  of  Churchmen  (which 
was  the  will  of  the  Holy  Founder),  will  by  my  example 
(without  vanity  be  it  spoken)  not  be  ashamed,  after  the 
sight  of  Courtly  Weeds,  to  put  on  a  Surplice."  For  fifteen 
years  Wotton  held  the  Provostship,  and  exercised  a  kindly 
and  fruitful  influence  over  the  College.     It  is  impossible 


44  ETON    COLLEGE 

in  these  pages  to  do  justice  to  the  charm  of  Wotton''s 
character.  Much  has  been  written  about  him,  and  re- 
mains to  be  written  still.  Etonians  will,  however,  turn 
to  the  pages  of  Izaak  Walton,  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
Wotton  himself,  but  also  for  the  picture  drawn  therein 
of  a  Provost's  life  at  Eton  in  his  dav. 


SIR    HRNKY    WOTTON. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  J^ror'ost's  Lo  i^c,  Eton  College. 


To  face  p.  44. 


Ill 

EARLY   STATUTES,   HEAD-MASTERS,   AND 
ETONIANS 

In  the  original  scheme  for  the  foundation  of  Eton  College, 
as  stated  in  the  first  chapter,  the  Founder''s  body  cor- 
porate consisted,  according  to  the  charter  of  October 
1440,  of  "  one  Provost  and  ten  priests,  four  clerks  and 
six  chorister  boys,  who  are  to  serve  daily  there  in  the 
celebration  of  divine  worship,  and  of  twenty-five  poor 
and  indigent  scholars,  who  are  to  learn  grammar ;  and 
also  of  twenty-five  poor  and  infirm  men,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  pray  there  continually  for  our  health  and 
welfiire  so  long  as  we  live,  and  for  our  soul  when  we  shall 
have  departed  this  life,  and  for  the  souls  of  the  illustrious 
Prince,  Henry,  our  father,  late  King  of  England  and 
France,  also  of  the  Lady  Katherine,  of  most  noble 
memory,  late  his  wife,  our  mother,  and  for  the  souls  of 
all  our  ancestors,  and  of  all  the  faithful,  who  are  dead; 
and  also  of  one  master,  or  teacher  in  grammar,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  instruct  in  the  rudiments  of  grammar 
the  said  indigent  scholars,  and  all  others  whatsoever 
who  may  come  together  from  any  part  of  our  kingdom 
of  England  to  the  said  College,  gratuitously,  and  without 
the  exaction  of  money  or  any  other  thing." 

45 


46  ETON   COLLEGE 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  charter  that  the  provision 
of  education  for  the  hoys  of  other  than  indigent  persons 
was  provided  for  by  the  Founder  simultaneously  from 
his  first  intention.  Edward  Hall,  the  chronicler,  says  that 
Henry  VL  "  founded  a  solempne  school  at  Eton,  a  towne 
next  unto  Wyndesore,  in  the  which  he  hath  established  a 
college  of  sad  priestes,  with  a  greet  nonibre  of  children, 
whiche  bee  there  of  his  coste  frankely  and  freely  taught 
the  eruditaments  and  rules  of  grammer."''' 

Henry  VL  lost  no  time  in  making  nominations  to  his 
new  foundation,  for  in  the  Papal  Bull,  which  immediately 
ensued,  the  following  names  are  given  : — 

Provost — Henry  Sever. 

Vice-Provost — John  Kette,  late  Rector  of  Eton. 
Priest- Felloics — William  Haston  and  AVilliam  Dene. 
Clerks — Gilbert  Grese  and  John  ]\Iondjoy  (?). 
Choristers — Roger  Flecknowe,  William  Kent,   John 

Halywyn  alias  Grey,  Henry  Cokkes. 
Seliolars — William  Stokke,  Richard  Cokkes. 
Bedesmen — John  Burdon  and  John  de  Evesham. 

As  no  name  is  mentioned  of  a  Magister  or  Informator, 
it  may  be  assumed  that  the  appointment  had  not  been 
made.  Subsequently,  as  stated  before,  the  Founder  re- 
modelled his  body  corporate  on  the  lines  of  that  at 
Winchester,  acting  no  doubt  under  the  advice  of  Thomas 
of  Bekynton,  an  old  AVykehamist,  and  of  W^illiam  of 
Waynflete,  who  left  the  Head-mastership  of  Winchester 
to  take  up  that  of  Eton,  and  brought  with  him  Fellows 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     47 

and  Scholars  to  form  the  nucleus  of  the  new  foundation. 
The  statutes  first  drawn  up  in  144-3,  and  added  to  from 
time  to  time  during  the  ensuing  years,  were  obviously 
based,  both  as  regards  Eton  College  and  King's  College, 
Cambridge,  on  the  statutes  of  William  of  Wykeham  for 
Winchester  College  and  New  College,  Oxford.  They 
provide  for  a  Provost,  ten  Priest-Fellows  (from  whom  a 
Vice-Provost,  precentor,  sacristan,  and  two  bursars  were 
to  be  chosen),  ten  chaplains,  ten  clerks,  sixteen  choristers, 
a  Head-master  {maffisfer  or  hifbrmator),  an  Usher 
(pstiarius),  seventy  poor  scholars,  twenty  commensales, 
and  thirteen  bedesmen.  The  scholars  were  to  be  boys 
of  good  character  and  decent  life — poor  and  needy,  with 
a  competent  knowledge  of  reading  Donatuf;  (the  Latin 
grannnar  of  the  period) — and  plain  song,  and  to  be  not  less 
than  eight  years  old,  or  more  than  twelve,  except  specially 
well-read  boys,  who  might  be  received  up  to  the  age  of 
seventeen.  They  were  to  be  chosen,  in  the  first  place, 
from  natives  of  the  parishes  in  which  either  Eton  College 
or  King's  College  held  property,  and  then  from  natives 
of  the  counties  of  Buckingham  and  C'ambridge,  failing 
all  of  which  they  might  be  chosen  from  all  English-born 
subjects.  The  choristers  of  both  Eton  and  King's  had 
a  preferential  claim  to  election.  The  scholars  were  all 
destined  for  the  service  of  the  Church,  but  special  care 
was  taken  to  prevent  the  College  from  falling  under  any 
monastic  influence.  They  received  yearly  a  gown  and 
hood,  intended  to  last  three  years,  and  also  clothing  and 
bedding  up  to  a  charge  of  a  hundred  marks  a  year  for  all 


48  ETON    COLLEGE 

of  them,  including  the  choristers.  In  addition  to  other 
regulations,  each  scholar  had  to  swear  that  he  did  not 
possess  more  than  five  marks  a  year. 

In  conformity  with  the  anangements  at  Winchester 
and  Oxford,  the  Founder  re-modelled  his  college  at 
Cambridge  to  admit  of  a  regular  progression  of  scholars 
from  Eton  to  King's  College.  In  order  to  cement  the 
fusion  of  the  two  foundations,  two  Fellows  of  King's 
College — William  Hatcliffe  (afterwards  Secretary  to 
Edward  IV.)  and  William  Towne — were  brought  to  Eton, 
incorporated  as  Fellows  of  Eton  College  by  Waynflete, 
and  then  proceeded  immediately  by  election  to  King's 
College,  Cambridge,  thus  inaugurating  a  procession  of 
scholars  from  Eton  to  King's,  which  has  continued  with 
but  slight  intermissions  up  to  the  present  day.  The 
number  of  scholars,  seventy,  remains  the  same ;  and  the 
boys  were  known  as  King's  Scholars  as  early  as  1621, 
although  it  is  generally  stated  that  they  Avere  so  styled 
at  the  wish  of  King  George  III.  The  next  three  scholars 
elected  to  King's  were  part  of  the  Wykehamist  contingent 
which  accompanied  Waynflete  to  Eton, 

In  his  provision  for  the  admission  of  Conuuensales,  or 
Commoners,  the  Founder  was  unconsciously  taking  a  step 
fraught  with  the  greatest  importance  for  English  history. 
The  idea  was  again  borrowed  from  Winchester.  Henry 
had  been  brought  up  as  a  boy  with  the  sons  of  the 
nobility,  who  were  of  his  own  age.  He  was  not  likely  to 
neglect  their  interest.  When  performing  the  pious  duties 
of  charity,  religion,  and  education,  he  added  a  provision 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     49 

for  those  who  did  not  re(|uire  the  former,  but  were  in  no 
less  need  of  assistance  in  the  other  matters.  Twenty  sons 
of  nobles,  or  of  special  friends  of  the  College,  were  to  be 
allowed  to  sleep  and  board  in  the  College,  and  be  free 
from  any  charges  beyond  their  instruction  in  grammar. 
That  these  were  boys  of  the  highest  rank  and  station  is 
evident  from  the  statement  of  John  Blakeman,  one  of 
the  earliest  Fellows  of  Eton,  that  Henry,  though  he 
not  unfrequently  met  and  exhorted  the  Eton  scholars  in 
Windsor  Castle,  still  disapproved  of  their  coming  to  Court 
on  account  of  the  vicious  tone  of  morals  which  then  pre- 
vailed. An  inferior  class  of  commonei's  were  also  to  be 
admitted,  who  were  to  dine  in  hall  with  the  scholars  and 
choristers,  and  to  receive  their  instruction  gi-atuitously. 
Beyond  this,  according  to  the  statutes  of  1440,  instruc- 
tion was  to  be  given  to  any  other  scholar  who  might 
resort  thither  from  any  part  of  England.  Provision  was 
thus  made  from  the  outset  for  the  instruction  of  students 
of  independent  means,  who,  under  the  name  of  oppidam 
or  town  boys,  have  now  increased  in  such  numbers  as  to 
form  the  real  body  of  the  school,  and  at  the  present  day 
have  annexed  and  absorbed  a  large  portion  of  the  College 
revenues  for  their  own  use. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Head-master- 
ships of  William  of  Waynflete  and  his  successor,  "William 
^Vestbury,  of  their  successions  to  the  Provostship,  and  of 
the  debt  owed  to  them  by  the  college  and  the  school. 

At  the  time  of  the  installation  of  Waynflete  as 
Provost,  in  December  21,  1443,  before  Bishop  Bekynton 


50 


ETON    COLLEGE 


and  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  as  Coniuiissaries  to  the  King, 
the  following  names  appear  on  the  foundation,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  Provost : — 

John  Clerc,  Vice-Provost. 
Thomas  Harlowe 
Thomas  Weston 
William  Weye 
John  Bouer 
John  Godston 
John  Moddyng 
Thomas  Constantine 
John  Payne 
Thomas  Saye 
Thomas  Siggefeld 
John  Goldsmith 
Edward  Hancock 
Richard  Fawley 
William  Stok 
William  Walker 
John  Plente 
John  Browne 


Fellows. 


"*:  Clerks. 


>Scholars. 


Six  of  these  scholars  were  elected  to  Kino-'s  Collesre, 
Cambridge,  in  the  following  year. 

Two  of  the  scholars  elected  to  King's  in  1445 — Edmund 
Hampden  (afterwards  D.D.)  and  Roger  Flecknowe — 
appear  to  have  been  choristers  on  the  foundation  at  Eton, 
and  therefore  eligible  for  scholarships  at  either  college. 

One  of  the  above-mentioned  Fellows,  William  Weye, 
desiring  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  obtained  a 
special  license  from  the  Founder  to  be  absent  from  the 


-^ 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     51 

college,  and  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy  all  the  fruits  and 
benefits  of  his  position.  ITie  King's  original  license  to 
Weye  for  this  '  Peregrinage ''  and  "  blessed  Purpos  and 
Entent,"  "given  under  oure  Signet  at  oure  Castell  of 
Kenehvorth,"  is  still  preserved  at  Eton  College.  An 
interesting  record  was  kept  by  Weye  of  his  pilgrimage. 

By  the  statutes  of  1443  the  Head-master  {iiutg'istcr 
ijiformato?',  liulimagistcr)  was  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Provost  and  Fellows,  to  be  a  man  of  good  character, 
skilled  in  grammar  and  teaching,  unmarried,  and,  if 
possible,  a  jVIaster  of  Arts.  He  was  to  instruct  the 
scholars,  choristers,  and  other  boys  coming  to  the  school, 
and  to  have  leave  to  punish  them  in  moderation.  Under 
him  was  the  Usher  {ostiariu.i),  later  to  be  known  as  the 
Lower  Master,  who  was  to  be  a  layman,  unmarried,  and, 
if  possible,  a  Bachelor  of  Arts.  Both  received  a  salary, 
their  connnons,  and  cloth  for  their  gowns,  but  they  were 
not  allowed  to  make  any  charge  for  instruction.  The 
Head-master  and  Usher  both  resided  in  the  school  build- 
ings on  the  northern  side  of  the  schoolyard.  The  scholars, 
and  apparently  the  choristers  also,  all  slept  in  one  long 
dormitory  on  the  u])per  floor,  with  the  rooms  of  the 
Master  and  the  Usher  at  either  end,  the  former  at  the 
western  end,  the  latter  at  the  eastern,  and  one  schoolroom 
on  the  ground  floor  was  sufficient  for  working  ])urposes. 

Of  Westbury's  innnediate  successors  in  the  Head- 
mastership  little  is  known  beyond  their  names.  Clement 
Smyth,  however,  who  was  Head -master  of  Eton  from 
1453  to  1457,  when  he  became  a  Fellow,  became  Head- 


52  ETON    COLLEGE 

master  of  Winchester,  apparently  a  more  profitable  post 
at  the  time,  in  1462.  During,  however,  the  crisis  in  the 
history  of  the  College  in  the  days  of  Edward  IV.  he 
returned  to  Eton  in  1464,  and  for  six  years  supported 
Provost  Westbury  in  his  efforts  to  save  the  College  from 
destruction.  His  successor,  John  Peyntour,  elected  to 
King's  in  1467,  was  the  first  Head-master  of  Eton 
educated  at  the  school  itself.  The  next  Head-master 
of  interest  was  William  Horman,  a  Wykehamist,  who 
was  Head-master  of  Eton  from  1484  to  1495.  Horman 
was  a  prolific  writer  of  school-books,  one  of  which  was 
printed  by  the  celebrated  printer  R.  Pynson,  under  the 
title  of  Vulg-aria  Piieromm,  and  w^as  doubtless  a  text- 
book in  use  in  school  at  Eton.  Several  allusions  are 
made  in  this  work  to  the  study  of  Greek.  A  controversial 
work  by  Horman,  entitled  Ant'ihossicon,  played  some  part 
in  the  religious  literary  quarrels  of  his  day.  Horman 
exchanged  his  post  at  Eton  for  a  similar  one  at  Win- 
chester, but  became  Fellow  of  Eton  in  1502,  and  from 
1525  to  1534  was  Vice-Provost,  dying  in  1535,  almost  a 
century  old.  His  successor,  Edward  Powell,  only  held  the 
post  a  few  months,  leaving  it  for  a  Fellowship  at  Oriel 
College,  Oxford.  Subsequently  he  made  himself  too  con- 
spicuous in  his  support  of  Cardinal  Fisher  and  others  in 
resisting  the  King's  will,  and  found  his  way  to  the  most 
elevated  position  perhaps  ever  held  by  a  Head-master  of 
Eton,  by  being  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  on  the 
scaffold  at  Smithfield. 

For  several  years  to  come  the  Head-masters  at  Eton 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     53 

left  but  little  mark  on  the  history  of  the  College. 
Some  were  Wykehamists,  one  of  whom,  Thomas  Erlys- 
man,  in  1515,  left  Eton  for  Winchester.  His  suc- 
cessor, however,  Robert  Aldrich,  raised  the  post  to 
some  distinction.  Aldrich  had  known  Erasmus  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  him  in  after 
years.  It  was,  however,  as  Provost  that  Aldrich  looms 
largest  in  the  history  of  Eton,  to  which  fact  allusion 
has  already  been  made.  Under  Richard  Coxe,  who  was 
appointed  Head-master  in  1528,  Eton  College  seems  to 
have  first  reached  high  repute  as  a  school.  Old  Fuller, 
in  his  Worthies  q/'  England,  says  that  the  school  "  was 
hap])y,  with  many  flourishing  wits  under  his  endeavours.'" 
Coxe  was  a  zealous  Lutheran  and  Reformer.  In  later  days 
he  became  tutor  to  Edward  VI.  and  Dean  of  Christ  Church. 
Elizabeth  made  him  Bishop  of  Ely,  and  throughout  his 
life  he  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  Church  history. 

His  successor,  Nicholas  Udall,  another  Wykehamist, 
had  a  very  curious  career  and  very  varied  reputation.  He 
became  Head-master  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  having 
published  an  edition  of  Terence,  a  stock  subject  in  school. 
In  the  preffice  to  Roger  Ascham's  Scholcmaster,  a  former 
scholar  of  Eton  describes  L^dall  as  "  the  best  scholemaster 
and  the  greatest  beater  of  our  time."  He  published  a 
selection  from  the  plays  of  Terence,  which  was  long  used 
as  a  school-book  at  Eton.  A  curious  chance  connected 
with  UdalPs  Head-mastership  has  gained  him  a  niche  in 
the  history  of  English  literature. 

The    Eton    scholars    from    a    very    early    date    were 


54  ETON    COLLEGE 

accustomed  to  give  theatrical  performances  usually  at 
Christmas.  They  were  superintended  by  the  Head-master, 
and  Udall,  who  had  a  literary  gift,  appears  to  have 
written  small  pieces  to  be  acted  by  his  scholars.  One 
of  these,  a  short  comedy  called  Ralph  Roister  Doister, 
has  accidentally  been  preserved,  the  only  copy  known 
being  in  the  College  Library,  and  is  the  earliest  English 
comedy  at  present  known,  although  such  comedies  had 
been  in  existence  for  many  years.  LTdall,  however,  got 
involved,  much  to  his  discredit,  in  a  scandal  connected 
with  a  robbery  of  silver  plate  and  other  misdemeanours 
committed  in  1541  by  two  Eton  boys  of  good  family. 
The  Head-master  of  Eton  and  father  of  English  comedy 
found  himself  in  the  Marshalsea  Prison,  where  he  spent  a 
short  but  miserable  time.  As  might  be  expected  he  was 
removed  from  his  post.  After  his  release  LTdall  took  to 
translating  the  works  of  Erasmus,  besides  pleading  his 
innocence  and  repentance,  gained  the  patronage  of 
Edward  VL  and  the  Protector  Somerset,  and  mirahik 
dichi  he  managed  to  end  his  life  as  Head -master  of 
Westminster  School.  His  successors  had  short  careers 
until  the  appointment  in  1546  of  William  Barker,  who 
successfully  defied  the  Founder's  statutes  by  marrying. 
This  scandalised  many  good  folk,  who  attributed  to 
the  Head-master  several  cognate  vices,  such  as  riotous 
living  and  gaming.  The  only  fault,  however,  which 
seems  to  have  been  discoverable  against  Barker  was,  that 
"  he  is  sumwhat  to  gentle,  and  gyvethe  his  scholears  more 
licence,  thane  they  have  byn  usid  too  before  tyme  " ;  and 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     55 

what  Eton  boy  is  there  who  would  think  of  imputing  this 
to  a  Head-master  as  a  crime  ?  Barker  was  Head-master 
during  the  'purification'  of  the  College  under  Edward 
VI.,  and  managed  to  continue  his  post  as  Master  during 
the  '  revival '  under  Mary.  He  resigned  in  the  sununer 
of  1555.  It  is  uncertain  who  actually  succeeded  him,  but 
in  1561  the  post  was  held  by  an  Etonian  and  Fellow  of 
King's,  William  IVIalim. 

In  the  Founder's  original  statutes  it  was  laid  down 
that  the  scholars  were  to  have  a  competent  knowledge  of 
reading,  Donatus,  and  plain-song.  Music  had  formed 
part  of  the  curriculum  in  all  or  most  educational  estab- 
lishments in  the  Middle  Ages.  There  is,  however,  a 
special  interest  in  noting  the  elaborate  arrangements 
made  by  the  Founder  for  the  study  of  music  and  the 
use  of  music  at  the  services  in  the  Collegiate  Church. 
The  choristers  were  to  be  sixteen  in  number  and  under 
twelve  years  of  age,  to  sing  in  church  and  serve  the  priests 
at  the  daily  masses.  Of  the  four  clerks,  one  was  to  be 
organist  and  instructor  of  the  choristers.  There  was  also 
to  be  a  parish  clerk,  chosen,  if  possible,  from  among  the 
scholars  of  the  school,  who  was  to  be  skilled  in  Sarum  use 
and  in  singing.  The  choristers,  as  stated  before,  had  a 
preferential  right  to  vacant  scholarships.  The  provisions 
for  musical  education  are  noteworthy,  because  at  this 
date  the  English  school  of  Music,  of  which  John  of 
Dunstable  was  the  leading  exponent,  was  the  most  im- 
portant in  Europe,  and  had  a  lasting  and  widespread 
influence  on   the    ensuing   and   better -known    schools    of 


56  ETON    COLLEGE 

music  in  Italy  and  Germany,  In  the  college  library 
there  is  preserved  an  interesting  volume  of  manuscript 
music,  evidently  used  at  singing-schools  in  the  church. 
The  compositions  are  all  by  English  musicians,  and  some 
of  the  composers  were  Scholars  or  Fellows  of  Eton  itself. 
One  piece  is  signed  by  Robert  Hacombleyn,  afterwards 
a  well-known  Provost  of  King's.  The  volume  can  be 
dated  by  internal  evidence  to  the  time  of  Provost  Bost, 
1477-1503,  and  is  a  most  interesting  relic  of  musical 
history  at  this  date. 

Latin  seems  to  have  been  the  subject  principally 
taught  in  school,  both  translation  and  composition. 
The  earliest  mention  of  the  life  and  work  of  an 
Eton  boy  is  not,  as  might  have  been  expected,  that  of 
a  scholar  on  the  foundation,  but  that  of  an  oppidan, 
William  Paston.  Young  Paston  writes  to  his  brother 
from  Eton  two  letters  on  November  7,  1478,  and  Feb- 
ruary 23,  147f,  concerning  money  to  be  paid  for  his 
board,  and  to  his  '  creanser,'  Thomas  Stevenson,  who 
seems  to  have  been  his  tutor,  and  to  be  identical  with 
the  Thomas  Stevenson  who  was  elected  a  Fellow  in  the 
following  July.  His  letter  is  mainly  concerned  with  his 
desire  to  marry  a  young  lady  of  Eton,  to  whom  he  was 
deeply  attached,  and  of  whose  beauty  he  was  assured, 
although  he  had  some  doubt  about  the  thickness  of  her 
hands,  William  Paston  was  more  precocious  in  love- 
making  than  in  writing  Latin  verses,  for  he  laments  the 
little  progress  he  makes  in  them,  and  sends  his  brother 
a  specimen,  which  bears  out  his  statement.     Latin  vei-ses, 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     57 

therefore,  seem  to  have  been  a  staple  of  education  at  Eton 
from  the  earliest  days.  Roys  who  groan  at  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century  at  the  tyranny  of  Latin  verses 
can  comfort  their  minds  that  for  four  hundred  years 
most  Eton  boys  have  done  the  same. 

These  boys  were,  as  stated  before,  oppidans  or  commen- 
salcs,  of  whom  we  learn  from  a  biographer  of  Henry  VI. 
that  "  when  King  Henry  met  some  of  the  students  in 
Windsor  Castle,  whither  they  sometimes  used  to  go  to 
visit  the  King^s  servants,  whom  they  knew,  on  ascertain- 
ing who  they  were  he  admonished  them  to  follow  the 
path  of  virtue,  and  besides  his  words  would  give  them 
money  to  win  over  their  good-will,  saying  to  them,  '  Be 
good  boys,  be  gentle  and  docile,  and  servants  of  the 
Lord.^" 

It  is  not,  however,  until  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  that  any  light  is  thrown  on  the  internal  life 
and  economy  of  the  scholars  on  the  foundation  at  Eton. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  upon  the  death  of  Provost 
Bill  in  1561,  the  Fellows  proceeded  to  ignore  the  right 
of  nomination  held  by  the  Crown,  and  to  elect. Richard 
Rruerne  to  be  Provost  on  their  own  account.  This  roused 
the  anger  of  both  the  Court  and  the  Church,  and  brought 
upon  the  College  a  visitation  under  Matthew  Parker, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  person.  Among  the  manu- 
scripts betjueathed  by  Archbishoj)  Pai'ker  to  Corpus  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  is  one  which  was  probably  drawn  up  in 
view  of  the  intended  visitation. 

In  many  of  the  medieval  monastic  institutions  a  daily 


58  ETON   COLLEGE 

rule,  or  Consuetudinariuvi,  was  drawn  up,  to  regulate  the 
daily  life  and  work  of  the  members  of  the  community 
throughout  the  year.  Such  a  Con.suetudinar'mm  was 
drawn  up  in  1561,  either  by  William  Malim,  the 
Head-master,  in  view  of  the  Archbishop's  visitation, 
or  possibly  for  him,  as  a  guide  to  him  on  entering 
upon  his  new  duties.  The  whole  forms  a  most  interest- 
ing insight  into  the  life  of  a  schoolboy  at  that  date. 
It  is  divided  into  two  sections,  the  first  containing  the 
customs  to  be  observed  at  different  seasons  of  the  year, 
detailed  month  by  month,  the  second  describing  the  daily 
routine  of  school  life. 

Taking  the  Consuetudinarkim  as  it  comes,  and  begin- 
ning with  a  calendar  of  the  months,  the  boys  are  found 
at  school  on  the  first  day  of  January,  but  not  at  regular 
work.  On  New  Year's  day  the  boys  play  for  the  inter- 
change of  small  gifts  (strenuis),  and  compose  verses  of 
a  complimentary  nature,  which  they  send  either  to  the 
Provost  or  Master,  or  other  masters,  or  bandy  to  and  fro 
among  themselves.  Work  began  again  on  the  day  after 
the  Epiphany,  strcmie  vel  invU'is  ammis.  On  the  13th 
William  of  Waynflete  was  commemorated,  and  each  boy 
received  twopence.  On  or  about  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul 
the  annual  procession,  ad  montem,  took  place,  a  festival 
which  will  be  specially  noticed  elsewhere.  In  February 
took  place  the  commemoration  of  Provost  Bost  on  the 
7th.  On  the  Monday  {die  Luncc  Carnlsprivii)  before 
Lent  the  boys  composed  verses  in  praise  of  Bacchus  or 
the  contrary,  and  in  any  metre ;  the  compositions  of  the 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     59 

boys  in  the  three  upper  forms  were  fixed  to  the  lower 
shutter  of  the  college.  Bacchus  was  regarded  as  the 
patron  of  all  poets,  and  in  this  custom  there  may  have 
lingered  some  traces  of  the  old  Dionysiac  festival  to 
celebrate  the  approach  of  spring.  On  Shrove  Tuesday 
a  curious  custom  prevailed  :  the  cook  came  and  tied  a 
pancake  to  a  crow  at  the  door  of  the  school,  according 
to  the  saying,  PulUs  curvorum  invocant'thus  cum.  It  was 
the  custom  in  England  on  Shrove  Tuesday  to  indulge 
in  many  sports  and  pranks  corresponding  in  some  way  to 
the  Carnival  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Cock-fighting  was 
indulged  in  in  many  places.  Football  also  was  played 
and  tolerated  in  the  streets.  The  connection  between 
the  pancake,  the  well-known  attribute  of  Shrove  Tuesday, 
and  the  crow  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  approaching 
fast,  as  indicated  by  the  quotation  from  the  147th  Psalm, 
"  Who  giveth  fodder  to  the  cattle,  and  feedeth  the  young 
ravens  that  call  upon  him.""  On  Ash  Wednesday  the 
boys  all  went,  collegers  and  oppidans  alike,  to  church  at 
ten  o'clock  and  selected  priests,  to  whom  they  made  con- 
fession of  their  sins,  the  next  four  days  being  spent  in 
])enitence.  This  ordinance  was,  however,  erased  either 
by  the  Head-master,  IVIalim,  himself,  or  by  order  of  the 
C'ommissioners.  On  February  27  Provost  Lupton  was 
commemorated,  and  the  boys  received  one  penny  each. 
In  March  the  only  event  was  the  Feast  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion, when  the  Head-master  might  give  a  holiday  if  he 
chose.  In  April  the  chief  ordinances  are  for  Holy  Week 
and    Easter.     On    Wednesday  in    Holy    Week    ordinary 


60  ETON    COLLEGE 

work  was  set  aside,  and  lessons  in  writing  given.  This 
must  have  been  in  the  finer  and  more  elaborate  forms 
of  writing,  and  leading  to  a  kind  of  freehand  drawing. 
Those  boys  learnt  to  write  who  could  not  yet  paint 
cleverly ;  but  those  who  could  do  anything  elegantly  with 
the  hand,  drew  figures  and  offered  them  as  models  to 
their  comrades.  On  the  Thursday  in  Holy  Week,  in 
addition  to  certain  services  in  church,  certain  boys  who 
had  been  selected  to  communicate  in  church  were  allowed 
to  roam  about  the  country  out  of  bounds,  provided  that 
they  did  not  enter  any  wine  or  beer  shop.  On  Good 
Friday,  after  a  writing  lesson  and  morning  prayer  in 
the  church,  the  boys  assembled  for  an  oration,  given 
by  the  principal  monitor  of  the  school,  and  addressed 
chiefly  to  the  elder  boys,  upon  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
On  the  Saturday  writing  lessons  and  prayers  were  the 
order  of  the  day,  but  the  boys  went  to  bed  early,  in 
order  that  they  might  get  up  at  daybreak  on  Easter 
day.  It  had  been  the  custom  for  four  of  the  older 
scholars  to  watch  the  Holy  Sepulchre  throughout  the 
night  with  tapers  and  torches  lest  the  Jews  should  steal 
the  Lord's  body,  or  (as  it  is  more  rationally  and  quaintly 
put)  rather  that  no  accident  should  happen  through 
neglect  of  the  burning  lights.  This  custom  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  fallen  into  neglect. 

On  May  Day  (the  Feast  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  James), 
if  the  Head-master  gave  permission,  and  if  the  day  was 
moist,  they  might  rise  early  and  collect  boughs  of  May 
blossom,  and  decorate   with  them    the   windows  of  the 


THE    LONG    WALK,    ETON    COLLEGE,    WITH    THE   CHAPEL. 
From  an  old  Print. 


To  face  p.  60. 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     61 

dormitory.  The  boys  were  not,  however,  to  get  their 
feet  wet.  They  were  also  encouraged  to  extol  the  spring 
in  rhymed  or  English  verse,  as  well  as  in  selections  from 
the  Latin  poets.  On  the  Feast  of  St.  John,  ante  Portain 
Latinam,  the  boys  had  a  holiday,  and  a  '  long  lie  "■  or 
sleep  after  dinner  in  school,  until  they  were  summoned 
to  hall,  (id  merendavi.  Football,  also,  was  probably  in- 
dulged in,  as  a  current  saying  ran  as  follows : — 

Porta  Latina  pilum,  pulvinar,  pocula  praestat. 

This  day  seems  to  have  inaugurated  a  similar  relaxation 
of  the  daily  routine  of  work  throughout  the  sunnner. 
On  May  21  the  Founder  was  solemnly  commemorated, 
and  each  boy  received  twopence. 

On  Ascension  Day  holidays  began,  and  any  boy 
who  was  carried  away  with  the  desire  of  visiting  (studio 
efferuntur  v'lsendt)  his  parents  or  guardians,  was  allowed 
to  be  absent  until  the  day  before  the  Feast  of  Corpus 
Christi,  when  if  he  did  not  turn  up  in  the  evening,  he 
was  liable  to  be  flogged.  If  he  was  away  longer,  he 
might  be  deprived  of  his  scholarship.  These  three  weeks 
seem  to  have  been  the  only  holidays  during  which  the 
boys,  at  least  the  scholars  on  the  foundation,  were  away 
from  Eton.  Probably  there  were  many  boys  who,  in 
those  days  of  difficult  travelling,  were  unable  to  avail 
themselves  even  of  this  ]n'ivilege. 

On  Midsunniier's  Day  (St.  John  the  Baptist)  it  had 
been  the  custom  for  the  boys  to  erect  a  bonfire  at  the 
eastern  end  of  the  church  and  sing  anthems,  before  going 


62  ETON    COLLEGE 

into  hall  for  their  drink.  On  the  evening  before  they 
used  to  paint  pictures  and  compose  verses  on  the  life  and 
deeds  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  fix  them  to  the  foot 
of  their  bedsteads.  These  customs  had,  however,  already 
ceased.  The  bonfire  was  similarly  lit  on  the  Feasts  of  St. 
Peter  and  of  St.  Thomas,  but  the  latter  festivity  had  also 
been  abandoned.  In  July  took  place  the  annual  election 
of  scholars  to  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  that  of 
scholars  into  college  at  Eton.  In  August  the  boys  had 
a  whole  holiday  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  patroness  of  the  College.  The  Feast 
of  the  Decollation  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  marked  the 
close  of  the  summer  regime.  A  holiday  was  usually  begged 
for  by  the  College  stewards  (promus).  In  September  the 
boys  on  some  suitable  day  went  out  nutting  (ifur  colk'ctum 
Avellanas),  a  kind  of  minor  form  of  Montem^ax\(\  on  their 
return  offered  some  of  their  spoils  to  the  Head-master  and 
other  Masters.  Before  they  started,  however,  they  had  to 
compose  verses  describing  autumn  and  winter.  Nutting 
was  a  regular  custom  in  English  village  life.  At  Eton, 
however,  a  play  was  intended  upon  the  words  nnccs  and 
?mgw,  and  the  surrender  of  the  gathered  nuts  typified 
the  resignation  of  the  boys  to  the  severer  and  less  genial 
life  and  work  of  the  winter  months.  In  October,  on  the 
Feast  of  St.  Edward,  commenced  a  rule  that  the  boys 
should  arise  at  4  a.m.  on  the  morning  of  every  sainfs 
day  for  special  instruction  in  religion  and  the  Bible; 
this  lasted  till  Easter.  In  November  the  boys  had  a 
whole  holiday  on  All  Saints'  Day,  and  on  All  Souls'  Day 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.     63 

they  went  to  church  in  surplices  to  pray  for  the  dead, 
and  hear  lessons  from  the  Head-master  on  death  and 
the  hopes  of  innnortality.  On  the  Feast  of  St.  Hugh 
it  had  been  the  custom  to  elect  a  Boy-Bishop,  a  Bishop 
of  Nothing,  but  this  had  been  abandoned.  It  is  stated 
that  the  ceremony  at  Eton  had  been  well  known.  In 
December,  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  the  Head-master,  here 
called  ludimag-ister,  superintended  theatrical  performances 
in  Latin,  but  sometimes  in  English,  to  be  performed 
during  Christmas  in  public  by  the  boys.  T'he  object  of 
this  was  to  teach  both  the  speech  and  action  of  an 
orator,  and  a  proper  and  graceful  deportment  of  the 
body.  UdalTs  comedy  of  Ralph  Roister  Doister  has  been 
alluded  to  before.  After  December  20  regular  lessons 
were  suspended,  the  days  were  spent  in  writing-lessons, 
verse-making,  games,  and  theatricals. 

The  Con^ueUidinar'mm  then  goes  on  to  describe 
the  daily  routine  of  an  Eton  scholar's  life.  The  bovs 
all  slept  in  one  dormitory — the  long  room,  known  as 
'  Long  Chamber.''  There  were  four  praepostors  in  the 
dormitory.  In  the  morning  (except  when  it  was  a  saint's 
day)  at  five  o'clock  the  praepostor  for  the  week  shouted 
Siirg'Hc.  All  boys  arose,  and  said  prayers  during  dress- 
ing, each  in  turn,  with  the  rest  replying.  When  prayei*s 
were  finished  beds  were  made,  and  each  boy  swept  out 
the  dust  from  under  his  bed  into  the  middle  of  the  room, 
which  was  afterwards  swept  into  a  heap  and  removed  by 
four  boys,  selected  by  the  praepostor.  They  all  descended 
ill  line  to  wash  their  hands,  and  on  their  return  went  into 


64  ETON    COLLEGE 

the  schoolroom  and  took  their  allotted   seats.     At  six 
o'clock    the   Lower-master  {hypodiduscahis)   entered    and 
read  prayers.     After  this  he  came  to  each  of  the  lower 
forms — first,  second,  and  third — and  examined  them  in  the 
work  which  had  been  set  to  them  the  day  before.     To  the 
other  forms,  from  the  fourth  (which  then  sat  at  his  end  of 
the  room)  to  the  seventh,  he  only  gave  attention  if  any 
difficulty  arose.     Meanwhile  one  praepostor  was  engaged 
in    taking   down    the    names    of  the    boys   absent    from 
prayers,  and  another  in  examining  the  hands  and  faces 
of  the  boys  to  see  that  they  were  clean.     At  seven  o'clock 
the  Head-master  (ludimagister)  entered.     The  boys  with 
dirty  hands  or  faces  were  brought  to  him,  and  the  names 
of  boys  absent  that  morning,  or  from  school  the  evening 
before,  were  handed  in  by  the  praepostors.     The  fourth 
form    changed    ends   of  the  room,  and    the   forms  then 
repeated  their  lessons,  beginning  with  the  custos  or  lag 
of  each  form.     At  eight  o'clock  the   Head-master  gave 
sentences   to    be   translated,    varied,   or   put   into    verse, 
according  to  the  divisions  of  the  school,  and  the  Lower- 
master  similar  sentences,  even  a  very  short  one,  to  the 
first  or  lowest  form  of  all.     A  proverb  or  useful  sentence 
was  written  up  to  be  copied  out  and  recited  by  memory 
the  next  day.     At  nine  o'clock  or  thereabouts,  probably 
after  a  short  interval  for  breakfast,  the  aistos  of  each  of 
the  upper  forms  recited  and  explained  the  lesson  for  the 
day,  after  which  the  two  masters  lectured  thereon  to  the 
boys.     Themes  and  verses  were  done  by  the  upper  forms 
after  the  'boys  left  school.     At  ten  o'clock  they  returned 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.    65 

to  the  schoolroom,  and  repeated  prayers  under  the  direction 
of  a  praepostor.  At  eleven  the  boys  filed  out  in  two  lines 
and  went  to  the  dining-hall  for  dinner,  returning  to 
school  in  the  same  order.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  Lower- 
master  came  in  and  went  through  the  lessons  of  the  day 
with  the  four  lower  forms,  the  praepostor  checking  the 
names  of  absent  boys  as  before.  From  one  to  three  the 
Head-master  and  Lower-master  presided  over  the  work  of 
the  divisions.  At  three  o'clock  they  both  left  school, 
returning  at  four  o'clock,  when  further  lessons  w-ere  said 
to  them.  At  five  o'clock  the  boys  left  school  and  re- 
turned in  procession  as  before,  probably  for  supper  (corna). 
At  six  o'clock  work  was  carried  on  under  supervision  of 
the  praepostors  or  moderators,  chosen  by  the  Head -master 
from  among  the  boys  themselves.  At  seven  o'clock  the 
boys  were  dispersed  for  a  meal  of  drink,  and  on  their 
return  resumed  their  work,  unless  they  were  let  off  by  the 
Head -master.  At  eight  o'clock  the  boys  went  to  bed, 
intoning  prayers.  On  Friday  the  work  was  somewhat 
varied  ;  but  this  day  was  a  black  day  for  the  boys,  as  all 
complaints  and  punishments  were  meted  out  upon  this 
day.  On  Saturday  the  work  set  on  Friday  was  gone 
through,  and  as  no  translation  exercises  are  mentioned, 
it  must  be  presumed  that  the  boys  had  a  half-holiday. 
The  daily  routine  mapped  out  above  may  be  assumed 
to  apply  only  to  the  scholars  on  the  foundation.  The 
school  work  would  apply  to  both,  but  the  regulations  for 
the  dormitory  would  naturally  only  apply  to  the  scholars, 
and  those  for  hall  to  the  scholars  and  such  oppidans  as 


66  ETON    COLLEGE 

miglit  have  the  privilege  of  dining  at  one  or  other  of 
the  tables  in  hall.  Probably  part  of  the  work  clone  by 
the  oppidans  was  under  a  private  tutor,  such  as  Thomas 
Stevenson,  mentioned  in  William  Paston*'s  letter.  These 
tutors  are  perhaps  the  magistri  mentioned  more  than 
once,  though  the  Fellows  may  have  been  meant.  The 
school  was  governed  to  a  great  extent  by  the  monitorial 
system.  There  were  four  praepostors  in  school,  and  cer- 
tain moderators  or  controllers  in  other  places,  namely, 
one  in  hall,  two  in  church,  four  in  the  playing  fields, 
four  in  the  dormitory,  two  to  look  after  the  oppidans,  and 
one  to  supervise  the  cleanliness  and  tidiness  of  the  boys. 
From  other  sources  it  appears  that  at  first  both  collegers 
and  oppidans  alike  wore  a  gown  of  black  frieze.  Similar 
duties  are  still  performed  by  pra?postors  in  school  and 
chapel,  and  the  old  name  has  been  preserved.  The  boys 
rose  early,  and  were  kept  close  at  work  all  day,  except  on 
the  not  unfrequent  saints'  days  and  other  commemorative 
festivals.  Three  meals  only  are  mentioned — dinner  {pran- 
diuni)  at  eleven  o'clock,  supper  {twna)  at  five  o'clock,  and 
a  draught  (potus)  at  seven  o'clock.  The  boys  must  have 
had  something  in  the  way  of  breakfast  before  eleven  in 
the  morning,  but  no  provision  is  made  for  it  in  the  time- 
table, and  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  recognised 
meal.  The  necessary  opportunities,  however,  of  leaving 
the  room  were  given  to  the  boys  after  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  but  not  to  more  than  three  at  a  time.  There 
were  seven  forms,  three  in  the  upper  school  and  three 
in   the  lower  school.     The  fourth  form  occupied  an  in- 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.    67 

termediate  position,  and  corresponds  to  the  Remove  at 
the  present  day ;  in  fact,  it  spent  part  of  its  day  in 
removing  from  one  end  of  the  schooh*oom  to  the  other. 
The  work  consisted  of  Latin  themes  or  verses  and 
translation  from  Latin  authors,  with  lectures  from  the 
masters  thereon.  On  Mondays  and  Tuesdays,  in  the 
sixth  and  seventh  forms,  Ca'sar's  Conmientaries  and  Cicero 
are  mentioned  as  being  read ;  in  the  fifth,  Justinus ; 
in  the  fourth,  third,  and  second,  Terence;  and  in  the 
first  or  lowest  form,  Vives.  On  Wednesdays  and  Thurs- 
days the  sixth  and  seventh  forms  read  Virgil,  the  fourth 
and  fifth  Ovid,  the  third  Cicero''s  Letters,  the  second 
Lucian,  and  the  first  Vives  as  before.  In  the  afternoons 
of  these  days  the  sixth  and  seventh  forms  did  Greek  gram- 
mar if  the  Head-master  allowed,  the  fifth  read  Valerius 
Maxim  us,  Lucius  Florus,  or  Cicero's  Letters,  or  Susem- 
brotus.  On  Fridays  the  sixth  and  seventh  forms  read 
Lucan  or  some  other  poet,  the  fifth  Horace,  the  fourth 
Epigrams  and  Apophthegms  of  Martial,  Catullus  or  Sir 
Thomas  More.  They  also  were  set  themes  and  verses  to 
be  shown  up  on  Saturday,  and  the  lower  school  read 
yEsop's  Fables  and  Cato. 

Some  of  the  annual  customs  mentioned  in  the  above 
Consuetudinarkmi  remained  in  force  until  quite  recent 
years.  The  Calendar  or  New  Year's  copy  of  Latin  verses, 
continued  to  be  composed  by  the  captain  of  the  school 
until  about  1870.  Some  of  the  later  compositions  were 
of  considerable  merit,  and  were  printed  in  the  Miisa 
Etonemes.     The  Bcurhus  verses  continued  to  be  written 


68  ETON    COLLEGE 

until  the  nineteenth  century,  and  have  gained  a  curious 
notoriety  from  having  been  noticed  by  Samuel  Pepys 
during  a  flying  visit  to  Eton  in  1666.  The  long  rolls 
on  which  the  verses  were  written  were  hung  up  in  the 
college  hall.  Porson,  the  great  scholar,  wrote  one, 
which  is  still  preserved  in  the  college  library.  Saints' 
days  are  still  observed  as  holidays  for  the  boys,  except 
for  an  increased  length  in  the  chapel  service.  The 
Christmas  theatricals  were  continued  for  many  years,  and 
are  now  represented  by  the  Speeches  delivered  by  the 
sixth  form  in  each  school  time. 

Though  instruction  was  given  at  first  gratuitously 
in  accordance  with  the  Founder"'s  statutes,  the  number 
of  commensales  or  oppidans  increased  so  rapidly,  that  the 
cost  of  their  commons  and  other  expenses  had  continually 
to  be  raised.  It  may  be  said  that  the  cost  has  gone  on 
steadily  increasing,  and  has  not  reached  a  maxhnnrn  at 
the  present  day.  From  a  bill  sent  in  about  1555  by 
William  Grene,  the  usher,  to  Sir  Gilbert  Dethick,  Garter 
King-at-Anns,  for  the  board  of  his  son  Nicholas,  it  would 
appear  that  the  usher  Avas  allowed  to  make  a  charge  for 
acting  as  tutor  to  an  oppidan.  Two  young  '  swells,"" 
the  sons  of  Sir  William  Cavendish  and  the  famous  '  Bess 
of  Hardwick,'  who  came  to  Eton  in  1560,  boarded  in 
the  town,  but  had  dinner  and  supper  in  the  college 
hall.  In  1608  about  thirty  oppidans  are  mentioned  as 
'in  commons*'  in  hall,  in  three  classes  of  noblemen, 
generosi  commensales^  and  coinmensales.  Such  was  the 
state  of  the  school   at   Eton  College  in  the  year  that 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.    69 

William  Malim  became  Head-master.  His  tenure 
of  office  was  marked  first  by  an  outbreak  of  the 
plague  and  the  first  use  of  a  sanatorium  removed 
from  the  College,  and  next  by  the  arrival  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  at  Windsor  in  1563.  On  this  occasion,  under 
Malim's  directions,  the  Eton  boys  greeted  her  in  copies 
of  Latin  verses,  no  less  than  seventy-two  compositions 
being  contained  in  the  manuscript  volume  still  preserved 
in  the  King's  Library  at  the  British  Museum.  In  a 
preface  written  in  Latin  prose,  obviously  by  Malim  him- 
self, the  boys  are  made  to  solicit  her  gracious  iSIajesty 
for  the  promotion  of  their  Master  to  some  higher  dignity. 
During  the  Queen's  residence  at  Windsor  some  excite- 
ment was  caused  by  some  boys  running  away  from  Eton 
to  avoid  flogging.  This  event  formed  the  subject  of 
discussion  at  dinner  in  Windsor  Castle,  there  being  pre- 
sent Sir  AVilliam  Cecil  (afterwards  Lord  IJurghley);  Sir 
Richard  Sackville,  who  had  himself  some  fifty  years 
before  been  driven  "  with  feare  of  beating  from  all  love 
of  learning,"  probably  at  Eton ;  Walter  Haddon,  the 
well-known  Eton  scholar ;  Roger  Ascham,  the  Queen's 
tutor;  and  John  Astley,  Master  of  the  Jewel  House, 
Ascham's  friend.  The  discussion  on  school  discipline 
led  to  Ascham's  famous  treatise  on  Tlw  Scholemaster. 
Thus  Nicholas  UdalTs  accidental  propensity  to  theatricals 
led  to  Eton  being  the  birthplace  of  English  Comedv, 
and  the  'plagosity'  of  William  Malim  led  to  the  com- 
position of  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  English  prose. 

Of  Malim's    successors    in    the   Head-mastership   not 


70  ETON    COLLEGE 

much  is  known.  Reuben  Sherwood,  appointed  in  1571, 
took  to  medicine,  and  became  a  physician  at  Bath. 
Thomas  Ridley,  appointed  in  1579,  took  to  law,  became 
a  Master  in  Chancery,  and  a  knight,  John  Hammond, 
appointed  in  1582,  abandoned  medicine  for  Eton.  His 
successor,  Richard  Langley,  appointed  in  1594,  held  two 
rich  benefices  "  farr  distant  from  his  schoole,"  an  act  of 
pluralism  described  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  as  Visitor 
to  the  College,  as  '  an  apostemated  ulcer,'  After  a  pro- 
longed controversy  with  Provost  Savile  the  Bishop  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  Dr.  Langley's  dismissal,  Savile 
promoted  the  usher,  Richard  Wright,  to  the  post, 
which  was  the  source  of  great  controversy  between  the 
Bishop  and  the  Provost.  Wright  only,  however,  held 
the  post  two  months,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  King's 
man,  Matthew  Bust,  with  whom  the  Bishop  was  satisfied. 
The  only  lists  by  which  the  names  of  boys  in  the 
school  can  be  traced  for  the  earlier  years  are  the  names 
of  the  scholars  proceeding  from  Eton  by  election  to 
King's  College,  Cambridge,  The  first  batch  of  scholars 
proceeding  from  Eton  to  King's  in  1443  contains  three 
names  of  men  who  rose  to  impoi'tance  in  their  day — 
WiU'uim  Hatdiffe,  John  Chcdxcorth,  and  Thomas  Scot 
alias  Rotherham.  John  Ched worth  became  second  Pro- 
vost of  King's,  and  was  in  1452  made  by  Henry  VL 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  In  that  capacity  he  acted  as  Visitor 
of  the  College,  and  with  Waynflete  revised  the  statutes 
of  the  College.  He  was  conspicuous  in  the  persecution 
of  the   Lollards,  and  seems  to  have  found  no  difficulty 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.    71 

in  transferring  his  support  from  the  House  of  Lancaster 
to  that  of  York. 

W'lUkim  Hatdiffc,  one  of  the  two  original  Fellows  of 
King's,  who  came  to  Eton  to  inaugurate  the  scholars  of 
the  two  colleges,  afterwards  became  a  doctor  of  physic 
and  secretary  to  King  Edward  IV.,  a  circumstance  which 
may  help  to  account  for  that  King's  subse([uent  modera- 
tion in  his  treatment  of  the  College.  William  Toicne^ 
Hatcliffe's  companion,  became  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and 
was  buried  in  King's  College  Chapel.  The  other  most 
distinguished  scholar  of  the  year  of  foundation  besides 
Bishop  Chedworth  was  Thomas  Scot,  alias  Bothcrham, 
who  became  the  leading  prelate  of  his  day,  enjoying 
the  confidence  of  Elizabeth  Widvile  when  Lady  Grey, 
and  through  her  of  Edward  IV.  After  succeeding  Ched- 
worth  as  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  he  became  in  1474  Chan- 
cellor of  England,  and  in  1480  Archbishop  of  York. 
During  the  troubled  years  of  Richard  III.'s  reign  he 
maintained  his  position  with  some  difficulty,  although 
he  played  a  prominent  and  important  part  in  the  history 
of  Eno-land  at  this  date.  He  was  a  great  benefactor  to 
both  Uniyersities,  and  in  emulation  of  Winchester  and 
Eton  he  founded  a  'fair  College'  at  his  birthplace, 
Rotherham,  in  Yorkshire. 

John  Marshall,  elected  a  Fellow  at  Eton  College  about 
1460,  was  also  a  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  of 
which  he  was  a  benefactor,  and  in  1478  became  Bishop 
of  Llandaff.  Other  prelates  of  distinction  occur  among 
the  scholars  of  Eton  and  King's  at  this  period.     Oliver 


72  ETON    COLLEGE 

King  (1449)^  became  in  succession  Bishop  of  Exeter 
(1492),  and  Bath  and  Wells  (1495);  he  was  principal 
secretary  to  three  successive  kings,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
George''s  Chapel,  Windsor,  being  truly  said  principihus 
placuisse  viris. 

William  Ativater,  Fellow  in   1482,  became  Dean    of 
Salisbury  in  1509,  and  Bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1519. 

Nicholas  West  (1483)  is  a  consoling  instance  to  Eton- 
ians how  youthful  escapades  can  be  condoned  by  subse- 
quent rectitude  and  virtue.  His  biography  states  that  he 
"  was  born  at  Putney,  in  Surrey,  being  factious  and  turbu- 
lent while  he  was  Scholar,  set  the  whole  College  together 
by  the  Ears  about  the  Rectorship,  and  when  he  could  not 
obtain  his  Desire,  he  set  the  Provost's  Lodge  on  Fire,  and 
stealing  away  certain  Silver  Spoons  departed  from  the 
Coll :  but  shortly  after  he  became  a  new^  man,  repaired  to 
the  Univ :,  and  afterwards  commenced  D.D,  He  had  a 
great  Faculty  in  opening  the  Dark  places  of  Scripture, 
was  likewise  well  experienced  in  the  Canon  and  Civil 
Laws  was  often  sent  Ambassador  by  King  Henry  7  to 
Foreign  Princes,  was  made  Dean  of  Windsor  and  Register 
of  the  Garter.  Afterwards  Bp.  of  Ely,  1515.  In  Lieu 
of  the  Wrong  he  had  done  to  the  Coll :  he  gave  it  many 
rich  gifts  and  Plate,  and  built  part  of  the  Provost's 
Lodge.  Q.  Catherine  chose  him  and  Fisher  her  Advo- 
cates   in    the    Cause    of    Divorce,  wherein    he    incurred 

^  The  names  of  old  Etonians,  when  mentioned  for  the  first  time, 
are  printed  in  italics  ;  the  date  following  a  name  records  the  year 
of  a  scholar's  election  to  Kiner's. 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.   73 

the  King's  Displeasure.  He  kept  daily  in  his  house 
100  Servants  .  .  .  relieved  Daily  200  poor  Folks  at 
his  gates  with  warm  Meat  and  Drink  ,  .  .  and  lyeth 
buried  at  Ely  under  a  Tomb  built  by  him  before  his 
Death." 

West  was  to  have  been  succeeded  at  Ely  by  another 
Eton  scholar,  Nicholas  Hazvk'uis  (1514),  archdeacon  of 
the  diocese,  who  was  at  the  time  of  Bishop  West's  death 
"  beyond  seas  in  embassage."  Hawkins  died,  however, 
before  his  consecration,  not  without  suspicions  of  poison. 
It  is  recorded  of  him  that  "  he  sold  in  time  of  Famine 
all  the  Plate  and  Goods  he  had  to  relieve  the  poor  People 
of  the  Isle  of  Ely,  and  was  served  himself  in  wooden 
dishes  and  earthen  pots." 

Jeff'cry  Bhjth  (1483),  after  being  Master  of  King's 
Hall  at  Cambridge,  became  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  and  in 
1512  Lord  President  of  Wales,  "at  which  time,  being 
attacked  of  treason,  he  cleared  himself  most  worthily." 
Thomas  Lane  (1488)  rose  from  being  Usher  at  Eton  to 
the  Bishopric  of  Norwich  in  1499.  liichard  Coxi\  who 
has  already  been  mentioned  as  a  successful  Head-master, 
became  Bishop  of  Ely  in  1560.  In  this  year,  too,  WUUam 
Allaj  (1528),  a  prominent  Reformer,  became  Bishop  of 
Exeter.  Eihnuml  Gheast  (1536)  "  tarried  in  England  " 
in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  "  but  often  changed  his  Lurking- 
Place  for  his  Preservation."  On  the  accession  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  he  became  her  Almoner,  and  was  appointed 
Bisho})  of  Rochester.  Somewhat  later  John  Lon^'  (1564), 
"a    ])rofound    scholar,"   became   Archbishop   of  Armagh 


74  ETON    COLLEGE 

and  Primate  of  Ireland ;  and  TJiomas  Ramme  (1588) 
Bishop  of  Ferns  and  Clogher.  Riclmrd  Mountagne 
(1594)  became  successively  Fellow  of  Eton,  Dean  of 
Hereford,  chaplain  to  James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  Bishop 
of  Chichester,  and  eventually  Bishop  of  Norwich,  leaving 
a  name  honoured  in  the  annals  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Amouff  other  divines  educated  at  Eton  about  this  date 
may  be  noted  John  Doggd,  John  Argentine,  Richard 
Hatton,  Robert  Hacombleyn,  and  Edward  Foxe,  successive 
Provosts  of  King''s.  The  last-named,  Foxe,  was  secretary 
to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  a  clever  and  successful  dip- 
lomatist. He  is  credited  with  the  origin  of  the  phrase, 
so  often  quoted  at  the  present  day,  that  "  the  surest  way 
to  peace  is  a  constant  preparedness  for  war."  Foxe  even- 
tually became  Bishop  of  Hereferd  in  1535.  Thomas 
Wilson  (1541)  became  Dean  of  Durham,  and  afterwards, 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  was,  as  principal  Secre- 
tary of  State,  one  of  the  most  influential  statesmen  of  his 
time.  Noteworthy,  also,  are  John  Hodghyns  (1450),  D.D., 
a  learned  mathematician,  often  consulted  by  Henry  VII. ; 
John  Kyte  (1480),  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  and  titular 
Archbishop  of  Thebes;  Thomas  Franklyn  (1496),  Dean 
of  Windsor ;  John  Watson  (1483),  the  friend  of  Erasmus ; 
James  Denton  (1485),  Dean  of  Lichfield,  and  (like  Bishop 
Blyth)  Lord  President  of  Wales.  Roger  Goad  (1555), 
Master  of  Guildford  Grammar  School,  became  Provost  of 
King's  in  1569,  and  reigned  there  for  forty-one  years, 
which  were  some  of  the  most  exciting  and  eventful  in  the 
history  of  his  College.     Thomas  Ashley  (1501)  held  the 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.   75 

chair  formerly  occupied  by  Erasmus  as  Lady  Margaret 
Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge,  and  was  succeeded 
by  W/inam  Skcte  (1524).  Jeffcnj  King  (1583),  chaplain 
to  Archbishop  Bancroft,  was  a  learned  scholar,  and  be- 
came Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Cambridge,  while 
Samuel  Collins  (1591),  afterwards  Provost  of  King's, 
was  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  and  refused  the 
bishopric  of  Bristol.  Wcdter  Haddon  (1533)  bears  one 
of  the  names  most  honoured  in  the  annals  of  Eton, 
both  for  his  eminence  as  a  Latin  scholar,  and  as  a 
reformer  of  the  ecclesiastical  law.  He  became  President 
of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  trusted  and  confidential  advisers  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth. He  was  Regius  Professor  of  Civil  Law  at 
Cambridge.  The  reformed  religion  found  its  adherents 
among  Etonians,  John  Fryer  (1517)  was  one  of  the  first 
to  adopt  Lutlier''s  doctrines  in  this  country.  Thomas 
Whitehead  (1524),  pantler  at  King's,  is  said  to  have 
hidden  away  all  the  Lutheran  books  in  the  College,  when 
they  were  ordered  to  be  destroyed.  John  Fuller  (1527), 
Robert  Glover  (1533),  and  Laurenee  Saunders  and  John 
Hullier,  both  of  whom  proceeded  from  Eton  to  King's 
in  1538,  died  at  the  stake  for  their  faith.  Glover  and 
Saunders  at  Coventry,  Fuller  and  Hullier  at  Cambridge, 
on  Jesus  Green.  Richard  Maister  (or  Master)  (1502), 
Rector  of  Aldington,  Kent,  became  involved  in  the 
foolish  conspiracy  of  the  '  Nun  of  Kent,'  and  suffered 
death  at  Tyburn  in  1534.  James  Calf  hill  (1545),  Lady 
Margaret    Professor   of    Divinity    at    Cambridge,    was   a 


16  ETON    COLLEGE 

zealous  Protestant,  and   was  Bishop-elect  of  Worcester, 
where  he  died.      William  Gouge  (1595)  was  an  eminent 
Puritan  divine,  and  Prolocutor  of  the  Presbyterian  Assem- 
bly in  London,  and  his  example  was  followed  by  his  son, 
TJwmas  Goug'e  (1625),  who  remained  a  Nonconformist  after 
the  Rest(Ji'ation,  and  was  especially  distinguished  for  his 
evangelical  work  in  Wales,     Among  laymen,  or  scholars 
engaged  in  more  secular  pursuits,  may  be  noted  William 
Coning.shij  (1497),  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench  in  1541  ; 
Richard  Crolic  (1506),  the  renowned  Greek  scholar,  whose 
fame  resounded  throughout  Europe;  Jolui  Bryan  (1510), 
another    Greek    scholar,    and    friend    of    Erasmus,    who 
lectured   on   Aristotle  in   the   original  text,  as  a  Greek 
writer,  rather  than  as  a  philosopher ;  Eckcanl  Hall  (1514), 
the  chronicler  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  ;   Thoma,s'  Sutton^ 
founder  of  the  hospital  and  school   of  the   Charterhouse 
in  London  ;  Sir   Thomas  Pope,  the  founder  of  Trinity 
College,  Oxford  ;  Nicholas  Tubman  (1533),  Rouge  Croix 
Pursuivant-at-Arms    and    Lancaster    Herald ;    Riclianl 
Pallady  (1533)  who  became  the  architect  of  old  Somerset 
House  in  the  Strand ;  William  Buckley  (1537),  who  reduced 
the  rules  of  arithmetic  to  Latin  verse,  which  must  have 
been  a  double  horror   to   the   boys;    John  Pace  (1539), 
jester  to  the  Uuke  of  Norfolk  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  the 
"  bitter  fool,"  of  whom  it  was  said  "  that  it  was  better 
for  the  common  weal  for  wise  men  to  go  in  fools'  coats 
than  for  fools  to  go  in  wise  men's  gowns "" ;  *SV;-  Richard 
Morysine   (or    Morrison),   not    only    Secretary   for   some 
time  to  Thomas  Cromwell,  but  a  noted  scholar  and  able 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEADMASTERS,  ETC.   77 

diplomatist;  and  Sir  John  O.shonw  (1568),  an  eminent 
lawyer  in  London. 

Many  Etonians  and  King's  men  at  Cambridge  at  this 
date  adopted  the  profession  of  physic  and  medicine,  of 
whom  John  Bhjth  (1520),  WUliam  Ward  (1550),  Wniiam 
Burt07i  (1578),  and  Ralph  Winterton  (1616),  held  in  their 
turn  the  post  of  Regius  Professor  of  Physic.  Thomas 
Hatcher  (1555),  M.D.,  son  of  another  Regius  Professor 
of  Physic,  was  the  first  to  collect  the  notices  of  Eton 
scholars  and  the  history  of  the  Colleges,  upon  which  all 
subsequent  works  have  been  based. 

Among  Haddon's  successors  as  Regius  Professor  of 
Civil  Law  at  Cambridge  were  John  Cowell  (1570),  Vicar- 
General  to  Archbishop  Bancroft,  and  compiler  of  a  still- 
quoted  dictionary  of  law  ;  Thomas  Morison  (1586),  and 
Thomas  Goad  (1635).  Richard  Juggr  (1531)  became  an 
eminent  printer  and  publisher  in  London,  a  profession 
adopted  by  two  Eton  scholars  of  the  same  year  (1571) — 
Richard  Day^  son  of  the  famous  publisher  John  Day,  in 
London,  and  Thomas  Thomas,  who  set  up  a  printing- 
press  in  the  LTniversity  of  Cambridge.  William  Ouffhtrcd 
(1592),  the  famous  mathematician,  was  both  born  and 
bred  at  Eton,  his  father  being  writing-master  to  the 
school.  Oughtred  himself  was  almost  as  much  renowned 
for  his  beautiful  handwriting  as  for  his  learning.  Eton 
produced  also  several  other  literary  celebrities  of  some 
renown  in  their  day.  Thomas  Anton  (1561),  a  lawyer  in 
Ireland  ;  John  Hatcher  (1584),  son  of  Thomas  Hatcher, 
the  antiquary ;  Albertus  Morton  (1602),  step-nephew  to 


78  ETON    COLLEGE 

Sir  Henry  WoLton,  secretary  to  Elizabeth  of  Bohemia, 
and  in  1625  Secretary  of  State  ;  and  Dudley  Carkton 
(1G15),  clerk  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  nephew  of  the 
diplomatist,  all  served  their  country  well  enough  to  obtain 
the  honour  of  knighthood. 

Giles  Fletcher  (1565)  was  not  only  scholar  and  poet, 
but  a  diplomatist  and  lawyer  besides.  He  was  sent  by 
Elizabeth  on  an  embassy  to  Russia,  and  became  after- 
wards Master  of  the  Court  of  Request.  He  was  the 
father  also  of  another  distinguished  Etonian,  Ph'meas 
Fletcher  (1600),  poet  and  author  of  The  Purple  Island. 

Thomas  Tiisser  (1543),  who  appears  to  have  been 
originally  a  chorister  before  coming  to  Eton,  and  perhaps 
there  also,  was  the  author  of  the  famous  Hundreth  Po'mtes 
of  Husbandrie,  the  Gcorgies  of  Eton,  in  which  he  alludes 
to  the  severe  use  of  the  birch  by  Head-master  L\lall. 

Abraham  Hartwell  and  John  Forsett  (1559)  are  re- 
corded as  poets,  and  John  Taylour  (1552)  gained  some 
repute  for  his  translation  of  Valerius  Ma.rimus.  Wiliiatn 
Temple  (1573)  was  secretary  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  and  afterwards  to  the  ill-fated  Earl  of 
Essex.  He  was  subsequently  Provost  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  was  knighted. 

William  Lisle  (1584),  of  Wilbraham,  Cambridgeshire, 
was  noted  in  his  day  as  a  "  rare  antiquary  ■"  ;  and  Thomas 
Moxotlowe  (1571)  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  member  of  Parliament  for  the  town  of  Cambridge. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  recover  the  names  of  boys  in 
the  early  days    who    were    educated    at    Eton,  as   com- 


EARLY  STATUTES,  HEAD-MASTERS,  ETC.    79 

mensales  or  oppidans.  Traces  are  found  of  such  well- 
known  names  as  Lytton,  Wriofhcslc?/,  Willoughhtj,  Dormer^ 
Staiihope,  Arundel,  Cavendish,  FitzzcilUam,  Grey,  Corn- 
icallis,  Bertie,  Throckmorton,  and  others,  pointing  to  the 
high  social  status  of  the  boys  in  the  school.  Sir  John 
Harrington,  the  author  of  Niigcc  Antiqua^,  and  the  trans- 
lator of  Ariosto,  was  at  Eton  in  1 575 ;  he  was  a  godson 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Avho,  when  he  was  still  at  Eton  in 
that  year,  sent  him  a  copy  of  her  speech  in  Parliament 
to  peruse  and  ponder  over. 

After  so  long  a  list  of  churchmen  and  civilians,  it  is 
})erhaps  surprising  to  learn  that  the  first  scholar  of  Eton 
College,  mentioned  in  the  Papal  Rull  of  1441,  William 
StokKe,  became  a  soldier.  Michael  Palmer,  scholar  of 
King's  in  1458,  "in  defence  of  his  founder  was  slain  at 
the  battle  of  St.  Albans,"  and  thus  became  the  first  of  a 
long  line  of  Eton  heroes,  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives 
for  their  sovereign  and  their  country  in  Europe,  Asia, 
xVfrica,  America,  wherever  the  summons  may  come  to 
them.  Of  such  a  type  was  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  re- 
nowned in  the  history  of  the  Elizabethan  navy,  who  is 
stated  on  good  grounds  to  have  been  originally  an  Eton 
boy. 

One  colleger,  John  Greenhall  (1576),  gained  a  dis- 
tinction, as  unenviable  as  it  was  fortunately  unique,  for 
he  took  to  highway  robbery,  and  won,  it  is  true,  an  ele- 
vated position  for  himself,  but  on  the  gallows.  Another 
colleger,  Riclmrd  Jiixon  (1628),  perhaps  related  to  the 
Archbishop,  "died  A.B.  suddenly  at  a  cock-fighting  at 


80  ETON    COLLEGE 

the  Blue  Boar  in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  laughing 
extremely."" 

The  school,  however,  continued  to  gain  in  repute,  not 
only  for  its  aristocratic  students,  but  also  for  the  high 
level  of  its  scholarship.  This  was  especially  the  case 
under  Sir  Henry  Savile,  the  fact  being  well  illustrated  by 
the  action  of  the  great  scholar,  Isaac  Casaubon,  who  was 
so  much  impressed  by  the  advantages  of  an  Eton  edu- 
cation that  he  got  his  only  son,  Mer'ic  Casaubon,  placed 
upon  the  foundation. 

Bakhvin  Collins  (1561)  deserves  a  special  notice  among 
the  Fellows  of  Eton,  He  became  Vice-Provost  in  1595, 
a  post  of  more  active  influence  in  the  school  even  perhaps 
than  that  of  the  Provost  himself.  During  his  tenure  of 
office  "  he  preserved  many  poor  but  good  scholars,"  and 
was  "  A  man  of  great  Learning  and  Humility,  so  far 
from  ambition  that  he  often  refused  Preferments  offered 
to  him ;  so  far  from  Avarice  that  he  treasured  up  his 
goods  in  the  Bowels  of  the  Poor ;  so  far  from  Idleness 
in  his  ministerial  Function  that  almost  every  Sabbath 
Day,  as  long  as  Health  of  Body  and  Strength  of  Nature 
permitted,  he  did  voluntarily  and  gratis  preach  the  Word 
at  one  Town  or  another  neighbouring  upon  Eton.  He 
died  Fellow  of  Eton  1616,  and  was  buried  in  the  Chappel 
at  the  Entrance  into  the  Choir,  a  little  above  the  Brazen 
Desk." 


IV 

ETON  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

Sir  Henry  Wottox  was  Provost  of  Eton  for  fifteen 
years.  Though  it  might  have  been  to  him  little  more 
than  a  haven  after  an  industrious  and  fatiguing  life,  he 
threw  himself  with  great  success  into  the  duties  of  his 
post.  Savile  had  been  something  of  a  martinet.  To 
him  the  plodding  student  was  more  pleasing  than  the 
elegant  wit  or  brilliant  scholar.  Wotton  found  the  boys 
more  interesting  than  their  work,  and  was  the  first  peda- 
gogue, if  indeed  he  can  be  ranked  as  such,  who  taught 
boys  to  look  upon  a  master  as  a  friend,  instead  of  only 
a  teacher  and  inflicter  of  punishment.  "  He  was  a  con- 
stant cherisher,"  says  Walton,  "  of  all  those  youths  in 
that  school,  in  whom  he  found  either  a  constant  diligence 
or  a  genius  that  prompted  them  to  learning."  "  One  or 
more  hopeful  youths,"  as  Walton  has  it,  "  were  taken  and 
boarded  in  his  own  house."  Even  in  the  schoolroom  the 
Provost  was  a  familiar  figure,  and  he  was  ahead  of  his 
age  in  seeing  that  learning  can  be  taught  through  the 
eye  as  well  as  through  the  ear,  "for  he  caused  to  be 
choicely  drawn  the  pictures  of  divers  of  the  most  famous 
Greek  and  Latin  historians,  poets,  and  orators,"  which  he 
fixed   to  the   wooden   pillars    in   the  schoolroom   (Lower 

81 


82  ETON    COLLEGE 

School),  that  seem  to  have  been  erected  about  this  time. 
"  He  could  never  leave  the  school,"  adds  Walton,  "  with- 
out dropping  some  choyce  Greek  or  Latin  apophthegme 
or  sentence  such  as  were  worthy  of  a  room  in  the  memory 
of  a  growing  scholar,"  PhUosojjhcmur  is  the  inscription 
on  the  portrait  of  Wotton  preserved  in  the  Provost^s 
Lodge.  Wotton  was  a  friend  and  correspondent  of  John 
Milton,  the  poet,  when  the  latter  lived  a  few  miles  off' 
at  Horton.  Robert  Boyle,  the  famous  philosopher,  who 
was  sent  to  Eton  at  the  age  of  eight  in  1635,  together 
with  his  elder  brother,  describes  Wotton,  under  whose 
special  protection  they  were  placed,  as  "a  person  that 
was  not  only  a  fine  gentleman  himself,  but  well  skilled 
in  the  art  of  making  others  so."  John  Harrison,  who 
succeeded  Bust  as  Head -master  in  1630,  seems  to  have 
been  very  easy-going,  and,  judging  from  Boyle's  account, 
inclined  to  make  favourites  among  the  boys.  He  gave 
Boyle,  who  was,  perhaps,  an  exceptionally  '  hopeful  "*  boy, 
private  instruction,  instead  of  the  ordinary  school- work, 
which  was  all  very  well,  but  he  also  would  '  cloy  him  with 
fruit  and  sweetmeats,''  and  let  him  ofi^  school,  and  what 
was  perhaps  worse,  "  bestow  upon  him  such  balls  and  tops 
and  other  implements  as  he  had  taken  away  from  others 
that  had  unduly  used  them.'*''  Probably  little  Boyle"'s 
tenure  of  the  latter  gifts  was  a  stormy  one.  It  is  not 
astonishing,  therefore,  that  Boyle  found  Harrison''s  suc- 
cessor, William  Nofris  (1623),  '  a  rigid  fellow.'  The 
school  at  this  time  was  "  very  much  thronged  with  young 
nobility,"  and   many  well-known   surnames  occur  in  the 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  83 

Eton  Audit  Books.  Brothers  were  described  as  Compton 
A,  Compton  1,  Compton  Minor,  and  so  on.  Scholarships 
were  also  eagerly  sought  after,  and  each  election  a  cause 
of  much  distraction  to  the  Provost.  Wotton  speaks  of 
the  trouble  caused  by  the  correspondence  concerning  the 
elections,  and  how  one  boy  nominated  by  his  dear 
})atroness,  the  Queen  of  Bohemia,  had  to  be  rejected, 
because  he  had  been  foolish  enough  to  have  been  born 
at  Delft  in  Holland.  This  is  the  more  surprising, 
because  a  dispute  arose  at  this  time  between  Eton  and 
King''s  concerning  the  appointments  to  Eton  Fellowships 
and  the  reduction  of  their  number  to  seven,  instead  of  the 
ten  appointed  in  the  Founder's  statutes.  The  Fellows 
of  King''s  claimed  a  vested  interest  in  the  Fellowships 
at  Eton,  and  among  various  charges  brought  by  them 
against  the  Eton  authorities  for  breach  of  the  statutes, 
they  alleged  that  the  scholars  "had  been  deprived  of 
breakfasts,  clothing,  bedding,  and  all  other  necessaries, 
which  the  statute  amply  allows  them,  and  forced  to  be 
content  with  a  bare  scanty  diet  and  a  coarse  short  gown, 
whilst  the  College  revenues  are  shared  amongst  a  few." 
The  large  increase  in  the  number  of  commensales  or  oppi- 
dans had  no  doubt  increased  the  standard  of  comfort  in 
the  school,  both  in  College  and  outside,  far  beyond  that 
contemplated  by  the  pious  Founder.  Probably  long 
before  this  time  the  oppidans  had  discarded  the  black 
gown,  which  became  the  distinctive  mark  of  a  King's 
scholar,  who  was  hence  styled  '  togatus,'  shortened  in 
ordinary    conversation    to    '  tug.'     The    dispute   between 


84  ETON    COLLEGE 

Eton  and  King's  was  heard  before  Archbishop  Laud 
in  1636,  who  decided  in  a  way  calculated  to  satisfy 
both  parties.  Wotton  died  in  1639,  and  was  buried 
in  the  chapel.  His  dislike  of  religious  s(juabbles  was 
set  forth  by  his  own  request  on  his  tomb  in  the 
sentence,  ^^  Disputanti  jniiritus  est  ecclesiarum  scabies.'''' 
He  was  succeeded  by  Richard  Steward,  Dean  of 
Chichester,  Clerk  of  the  Closet  to  Charles  L,  a  safe, 
worthy,  and  pious  man,  of  no  particular  importance. 
Norris  was  succeeded  as  Head  -  master  by  Nicholas 
Gray,  a  Westminster  scholar,  who  had  already  been 
Head -master  of  Charterhouse  and  Merchant  Taylors' 
School. 

Wotton  was  by  no  means  the  only  interesting  figure  at 
Eton  College  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Among  the  special  proteges  of  Sir  Henry  Savile  at  Merton 
College,  Oxford,  had  been  John  Hales,  a  scholar  of  much 
repute.  Savile  made  Hales  a  Fellow  of  Eton,  the  ap- 
pointment being  one  of  those,  no  doubt,  which  caused 
umbrage  to  the  Provost  and  Fellows  of  King's.  Hales, 
however,  spent  some  years  as  chaplain  to  the  English 
ambassador,  Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  in  Holland.  He  settled 
at  Eton  in  1619,  and  was  on  excellent  terms  with  Sir 
Henry  Wotton,  who  called  him  a  '  bibliotheca  ambuluns.' 
Hales  is  more  remarkable  for  his  recognised  position  in 
the  world  of  letters  in  London  than  for  his  plunge  into 
schismatic  controversy,  which  afterwards  cost  him  dear. 
His  friends  styled  him  '  the  ever-memorable  John  Hales.' 
He  was  as  great  a  favourite  at  Court  as  among  writers 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  85 

and  scholars.  Ben  Jonson,  Sir  William  Davenant,  Falk- 
land, Sir  John  Suckling,  are  known  to  have  been  his 
friends.  Suckling  describes  his  quiet,  retiring  nature  in 
the  following  lines  : — 

Hales  set  by  himself  most  gravely  did  smile, 
To  see  them  about  nothing  keep  such  a  coil. 
Apollo  had  spied  him  but,  knowing  his  mind, 
Past  by,  and  called  Falkland  that  set  just  behind. 

No  writer  on  Eton  can  afford  to  omit  a  quotation  from 
the  account  given  by  Charles  Gildon  to  Dryden  in  1694- 
how  John  Hales  upheld  the  supremacy  of  Shakespeare  in 
literature : — 

"Mr.  Hales  of  Eaton  affirmed  that  he  wou'd  shew  all 
the  Poets  of  Antiquity  outdone  by  Shakespear,  in  all  the 
Topics,  and  Common  IMaces  made  use  of  in  Poetry.  The 
Enemies  of  Shakespear  wou'd  by  no  means  yield  him  so 
much  Excellence  :  so  that  it  came  to  a  Resolution  of  a 
trial  of  skill  upon  that  Subject ;  the  place  agreed  on  for 
the  Dispute  was  Mr.  Hales's  Chamber  at  Eaton ;  a  great 
many  Books  were  sent  down  by  the  Enemies  of  this  Poet, 
and  on  the  appointed  day  my  Lord  Falkland,  Sir  John 
Suckling,  and  all  the  Persons  of  Quality  that  had  Wit 
and  Learning,  and  interested  themselves  in  the  Quarrel, 
met  there,  and  upon  a  thorough  Disquisition  of  the  point, 
the  Judges  chosen  by  agreement  out  of  this  Learned  and 
Ingenious  Assembly  unanimously  gave  the  Preference  to 
Shakespear.  And  the  Greek  and  Roman  Poets  were 
adjudgVl  to  Vail  at  least  their  Glory  in  that  of  the 
English  Hero.'' 


86  ETON    COLLEGE 

Thus  did  Eton  place  the  laurel  crown  on  Shakespeare's 
brow. 

The  good  reputation  of  John  Hales  was  preserved 
after  his  death  by  one  of  the  most  famous  Eton  scholars, 
John  Pearson  (1632),  Bishop  of  Chester,  and  author  of  the 
famous  Exposition  of  the  Creed.  In  his  famous  defence 
of  the  Letters  of  St.  Ignatius,  Pearson  alludes  to  Eton 
as  the  place  to  which  he  owed  his  grounding  in  literature. 
He  is  said  to  have  spent  all  his  money  at  Eton  in  buy- 
ing books.  Pearson  collected  and  published  the  Golden 
Remains  of  John  Hales,  with  an  affectionate  preface  in 
praise  of  his  old  friend. 

Eton  was  at  a  considerable  height  of  prosperity  when 
the  Civil  Wars  burst  upon  England.  Pious  and  worthy 
Provost  Steward,  less  pliable  and  prudent,  if  more  loyal 
and  true  than  his  predecessors  on  similar  occasions,  fol- 
lowed his  sovereign's  fortunes  to  Oxford.  He  was  re- 
moved from  his  Provostship  by  the  Parliament,  and  the 
income  of  the  post  for  a  time  sequestrated.  By  order 
of  the  King  all  elections  of  scholars  from  Eton  to  King's 
were  suspended  in  1643,  and  though  some  scholars  were 
allowed  to  proceed  without  election,  the  regular  course 
of  election  was  not  resumed  until  October  1645,  The 
commensales  ceased  to  come  or  were  withdrawn.  As 
these  boys  were  for  the  most  part  likely  to  belong  to 
Cavalier  families,  this  was  not  very  surprising.  Many 
of  the  older  boys  no  doubt  found  pistol  and  sword  more 
interesting  weapons  than  the  Latin  grammar.  The  reve- 
nues, however,  of  Eton  College  again  escaped  during  the 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  87 

general  confiscation  of  church  property,  which  was  com-  f ' 
menced  by  the  Parliamentary  Government.  It  is  true 
that  the  iconoclastic  hand  of  the  infuriated  Colonel  Venn 
was  extended  to  the  "  scandalous  monuments  and  pic- 
tures" at  Eton.  Perhaps  it  was  due  to  the  wise  modera- 
tion of  Cromwell's  nominee  to  the  Provostship,  that  the 
hand  of  the  destroyer  was  stayed  at  Eton. 

Traces  of  the  Civil  Wars  occur  in  the  lists  of  Eton 
scholars,  chronicling  how  John  Yo^inge  (1625)  "  lost  his 
leg  by  a  cannon  shot  in  the  king's  service";  Sampson 
Brigges  (1630)  "died  at  the  siege  of  Gloucester,  slain 
in  the  king's  army";  James  Eyre  (1638)  "was  slain  in 
the  service  of  the  king  at  Berkeley  Castle";  Charles 
Hozcard  (1646),  young  and  gallant  like  his  namesake  at 
Waterloo,  was  "  killed  at  Newark,  captain  in  the  king's 
service";  and  how  Ai'thur  Sivayne  (1639),  holding  a 
Lieutenant-Colonel's  commission,  "  in  1644,  teaching  his 
boy  to  use  his  arms,  bid  him  aim  at  himself  and  fire, 
not  imagining  the  gun  to  be  charged,  which  the  servant 
performed  too  well.'""  Robert  Devereux^  third  Earl  of' 
Essex^  the  gloomy  parliamentary  general,  was  for  a  few 
months  in  1610  a  boy  at  Eton. 

Francis  Rous,  the  new  Provost,  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  noted  for  his 
extreme  Puritan  views.  He  continued  to  sit  \n  Parlia- 
ment after  his  election  to  the  Provostship,  and  in  the 
'little'  Parliament  of  1653  he  was  elected  to  the 
Speaker's  chair.  Cromwell  raised  him  to  the  peerage  in 
1657,   little  more  than  a  year  before  his  death,  though 


88  ETON    COLLEGE 

the  title  was  not,  of  course,  recognised  at  the  Restoration. 
Provost  Rous  proved  an  unexpected  benefactor  to  Eton 
College,  which,  cavalier  as  it  always  has  been  in  senti- 
ment, had  little  reason  to  regret  his  usurpation.  He 
saved  the  College  from  taxation,  and  renewed  the  elections 
from  Eton  to  King's.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the 
Puritan  service  was  introduced  in  the  chapel,  and  the 
royalist  Fellows  were  ejected  in  favour  of  Puritans,  The 
Fellows,  however,  were  now  allowed  the  liberty  of  receiv- 
ing their  commons  in  money  instead  of  in  kind,  and  to 
have  their  meals  in  their  own  houses.  Among  the  Fellows 
who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Common- 
wealth was  John  Hales,  who  was  ejected  from  his  Fellow- 
ship, but  allowed  to  live  in  lodgings  at  Eton  until  his 
death  in  1656,  when  he  was  buried  in  the  churchyard. 
Nicholas  Gray,  the  Royalist  Head-master,  was  deprived 
of  his  post,  and  was  succeeded  for  a  few  months  by  George 
Goad  (1620),  a  member  of  an  Etonian  family,  many  of 
whom  were  Scholars  or  Fellows  of  Eton  or  King''s.  His 
successor,  Thomas  Horne^  in  1648  was  chiefly  known  as 
the  writer  of  some  much-used  school-books. 

The  Protector  in  person  showed  that  he  regai'ded 
Eton  College  as  of  importance  in  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, and  no  doubt  looked  on  it  as  a  promising- 
nursery  for  the  sons  of  Reformers.  Cromwell  had  a 
ward,  a  boy  named  Button,  whom  he  entrusted  to 
the  tutorship  of  Andrew  Marvell,  the  famous  Puritan 
poet.  Marvell  accompanied  the  boy  to  Eton,  and  they 
were  boarded  in  the  house  of  one   of  the  new  Puritan 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  89 

Fellows,  by  name  John  Oxenbridge,  a  man  almost  as 
remarkable  in  his  way  as  John  Hales  himself.  Oxen- 
bridge  and  his  wife,  having  been  treated  as  schismatics 
by  Archbishop  Laud,  had  left  the  country  and  led  a 
roving  life,  preaching  the  gospel  across  the  seas.  For 
some  time  he  and  his  wife  had  pursued  their  evangelical 
career  in  the  islands  of  the  Bermudas,  Shakespeare's 
'  vexed  Bermoothes,'  thus  anticipating  by  about  a  cen- 
tury Dean  Berkeley's  spirited  attempt  to  propagate 
Christianity  in  America.  During  the  Commonwealth 
they  returned  to  England,  and  both  became  noted  for 
their  powers  of  preaching.  Oxenbridge  was  in  1652 
rewarded  with  a  Fellowship  at  Eton,  and  he  and  his  wife 
settled  there.  Marvell  wrote  to  Cromwell  from  Eton  de- 
scribing his  pupil's  progress,  and  thanking  him  for  placing 
him  in  so  godly  a  family.  Mrs.  Oxenbridge  died  and 
was  buried  at  Eton,  where  a  tablet  was  placed  to  her 
memory  with  an  inscription  composed  by  Marvell.  This 
was  defaced  at  the  Kestoration,  a  piece  of  petty  spite. 
Oxenbridge,  on  being  ejected  from  his  Fellowship,  married 
again  and  resumed  his  missionary  efforts  in  Surinam, 
Barbadoes,  and  other  places,  and  eventually  found  his 
way  to  the  new  settlement  at  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
of  which  he  became  the  first  pastor,  thus  forging  a 
curious  link  between  Eton  and  the  New  World.  Marvell 
at  Eton  knew  and  admired  John  Hales,  saying  that  he 
had  "  one  of  the  clearest  heads  and  best  prepared  hearts 
in  Christendom." 

The  affectionate  interest  taken  by  Provost  Rous  in  the 


90  ETON    COLLEGE 

College  was  shown  by  his  instructions  to  be  buried  at 
Eton,  "  a  place  which  hath  my  deare  affections  and 
prayers,  that  it  may  be  a  flourishing  nursery  of  pietie 
and  learning  to  the  end  of  the  world."  He  died  in 
January  165f.  All  royal  and  ecclesiastical  patronage 
having  been  appropriated  by  the  Parliament,  the  office 
of  Visitor  of  Eton  College  had  shared  this  fate.  On  the 
death,  therefore,  of  Provost  Rous,  the  Vice-Provost  (John 
Oxenbridge)  and  the  five  Puritan  Fellows  (Bachiler,  Goad, 
Lockyer,  Penwarne,  and  Boncle)  addressed  themselves  to 
"Richard,  Protector  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland," 
as  Visitor,  informing  him  that  they  had  selected  as  Provost 
Nicholas  Lockyer,  lately  chaplain  to  the  now  deceased 
Lord  Protector.  Lockyer,  however,  had  not  held  the 
post  long  before  a  fresh  turn  of  Fortune's  wheel  brought 
the  royal  house  of  Stuart  back  to  the  throne,  and  the 
sons  of  the  cavaliers  back  to  Eton.  A  new  'purging'  of 
the  College  ensued,  and  besides  the  Provost,  most  of  the 
Puritan  Fellows  resigned  or  were  ejected,  including  Oxen- 
bridge  and  John  Boncle,  who  had  been  for  a  short  time 
Head-master.  One  Puritan  Fellow,  however,  Nathaniel 
Ingelo,  a  member  of  a  family  long  connected  with  Eton, 
managed  to  get  readmitted  to  his  place,  and,  becoming 
later  on  Vice-Provost,  made  himself  a  thorn  in  the  flesh 
of  all  cavalier  boys  and  scholars,  trusting,  no  doubt,  to 
another  fresh  turn  of  the  wheel  in  favour  of  his  party. 
When  the  spoils  of  war  came  to  be  divided,  Eton  College 
was  not  overlooked,  and  the  rich  prize  of  the  Provostship 
of  Eton  was  bestowed  not  unnaturally  on  Nicholas  Monck, 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  91 

younger  brother  of  the  famous  General  INIonck.  Monck 
was  shortly  after  created  13ishop  of  Hereford,  but  only 
held  his  two  posts  for  a  few  months,  as  he  died  in 
December  1661,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
Charles  II.  wrote  to  the  Vice-Provost  and  Fellows 
recommending  Thomas  Browne,  "  late  chaplaine  to  our 
deare  and  Royall  sister,  the  Princess  of  Orange,  deceased," 
adding  a  royal  dispensation,  since  Dr.  Browne  was  not 
a  member  of  the  Foundation,  and  was  therefore  dis- 
qualified by  the  statutes.  Subsequently,  however,  pro- 
bably in  answer  to  a  protest  from  the  College,  Charles  II. 
substituted  the  name  of  Dr.  John  Meredith,  one  of  the 
royalist  Fellows,  who  had  been  reinstated  on  the  Founda- 
tion. Nicholas  Gray,  the  ejected  Head-master,  was  elected 
a  Fellow,  together  with  General  Monck's  chaplain,  John 
Price,  and  Isaac  Barrow,  who  was  afterwards  to  be  Bishop 
of  Sodor  and  Man,  and  nmst  not  be  confused  with  the 
famous  Cambridge  mathematician.  Singleton,  the  Head- 
master, was  dismissed,  and  the  Usher,  or  lower-master, 
^riiornas  Mountaguc  (1632),  who  had  managed,  though  a 
royalist,  to  continue  in  his  post,  was  made  Head-master. 
Stringent  reforms  were  introduced  into  the  regulations  in 
force  both  in  the  College  and  in  the  school  under  Provost 
Meredith,  until  his  appointment  to  be  Warden  of  All 
Souls'  College,  Oxford,  in  1665.  Charles  II.,  not  a  great 
respecter  of  men  or  statutes,  then  offered  the  Provostship 
to  Robert  Boyle,  the  distinguished  scholar,  and  the  most 
prominent  Etonian  of  his  day.  Boyle,  however,  had  con- 
scientious scruples,  first  against  violating  the  statutes  by 


92  ETON    COLLEGE 

holding  the  post  as  a  layman,  and  next  against  following 
the  example  of  Sir  Henry  VVotton,  in  taking  holy  orders 
for  the  purpose.  He  therefore  refused  this  very  creditable 
offer  on  the  part  of  the  king.  Charles  therefore  offered 
the  post  to  another  distinguished  Etonian,  Ednmnd 
Waller,  the  poet.  Waller  was  not  burdened  with  the 
same  scruples  as  Boyle,  and  would  have  accepted  the  post 
gladly,  but  was  thwarted  by  the  unexpected  attitude  of 
Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon,  who  declined  to  sanction  any 
such  breach  of  the  statutes.  The  post,  therefore,  went 
a-begging  for  the  moment,  until  Charles  bethought  him- 
self of  the  debt  owed  by  him  to  Richard  Allestree,  Canon 
of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  who  had  been  a  useful  servant 
to  the  royal  cause,  and  is  said  to  have  fought  at  Edgehill 
with  a  nmsket  in  one  hand  and  a  book  of  learning  in  the 
other.  Allestree  is  reputed  to  have  been  noted  for  his 
ugliness,  and  to  have  owed  his  advancement  to  being  thus 
accidentally  recalled  to  the  notice  of  the  king.  Though 
there  is  little  to  support  this  tradition,  it  would  be  in 
keeping  with  the  character  of  Charles  II.,  first  to  let  a 
deserving  retainer  slip  from  his  memory,  and  then  to 
reward  him  handsomely  for  some  humorous  reason  such 
as  the  above.  Ugly  or  not,  Allestree  proved  one  of  the 
best  Provosts  that  Eton  College  ever  had.  He  restored 
equilibrium  in  its  finances,  and  took  a  personal  share  in 
introducing  harmony  and  comfort  into  the  life  in  College. 
On  the  school  he  conferred  an  inestimable  benefit  at 
the  time.  L^p  to  this  date  the  boys  had  all  attended 
school  in  the  old  room  under  Long  Chamber,  now  known 


RICHARD    ALLKSTREE,    D.D. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  Pnn'osi's  Lodgf,  Eton  Cotlci^e. 


I  o  face  p.  92. 


ETON    IN    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     93 

as  '  Lower  School,''  or  the  small  rooms  adjoining.  After 
the  Restoration  the  number  of  oppidans  increased  so 
rapidly  at  Eton  that  this  room  became  quite  inadequate 
for  its  purpose.  Provost  Allestree  built  at  his  own  ex- 
pense a  building"  connecting  the  ante-chapel  with  the 
tower  at  the  end  of  '  Long  Chamber,'  and  consisting  of  a 
long  schoolroom  on  the  upper  floor,  and  a  colonnade  with 
smaller  rooms  below.  This  building  was  in  use  for  twenty 
years  or  more,  when  it  was  found  to  be  insecure,  and  was 
taken  down.  Provost  Allestree  may,  however,  be  re- 
garded as  the  founder  of  Upper  School. 

There  had  up  to  this  date  been  but  little  alteration  in 
the  daily  routine  of  school  life  as  described  in  Malim's 
Cons'UcUalmarium.  Discipline,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  very  lax  during  the  continual  changing  and  '  pur- 
ging '  of  Provost,  P'ellows,  and  Masters  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  From  the  reforms  reintro- 
duced by  Provost  Meredith,  it  appears  that  there  was 
only  one  half-holiday  in  the  week,  and  that  only  when 
there  was  no  saint's  day,  or  other  whole  holiday ;  also 
that  the  Kind's  scholars  and  choristers  shared  the  '  Lonjj 
Chamber,"'  with  the  Head-master  and  Usher  sleeping  at 
either  end.  The  '  writing  times '  were  still  kept  up,  for 
the  Master  and  Usher  were  to  pay  special  attention  to 
the  scholars  during  that  period.  The  '  election  week  "■ 
seems  to  have  been  a  time  for  nuich  disorder  and  mis- 
behaviour among  the  boys.  The  scholai-s  were  now  to  be 
kept  severely  in  bounds,  and  the  doors  of  the  school  and 
Long  Chamber  were  to  have  new  locks  put  to  them.     l)is- 


94  ETON    COLLEGE 

cipline  seems  to  have  been  very  lax  in  this  respect,  for  "  It 
was  ordred  alsoe  that  if  any  Schollar  doe  presume  to  ly 
out  of  the  Coll.  one  night  without  Leave  of  the  Provost 
or  Vice-Provost  he  shalbe  whipt  and  Registred  for  the 
first  fault,  and  for  the  second  he  shalbe  expelled,"  and  also 
"  that  Clark,  Stone,  Curwin,  and  Whittaker,  whoe  lately 
accompanied  Garaway  and  Langston  at  the  Christopher 
and  Thos.  Woodward's,  shall  have  a  forme  of  Repentance 
drawne  for  them  which  they  shall  read  in  the  School  before 
the  Vice-Provost  and  Fellowes  in  English,  and  that  their 
fault  of  being  out  of  their  bounds  shalbe  Registred 
pro  prima  vice.''''  The  '  forbidden  fruit '  seems,  however, 
to  have  been  too  tempting  for  Curwin,  since  it  is  re- 
corded that  very  shortly  after  "  Curwin  and  Baker  were 
admonished  and  whipt  and  Registred  for  goeing  out  of 
their  bounds  to  the  Datchet  ale  houses  and  beating  the 
fishermen  in  their  way  home,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the 
Cojlege.  Curwin  for  the  second  time,  and  Baker  for  the 
first."  That  they  should  have  gone  to  Datchet  for  beer 
was  another  treasonable  offence,  for  the  College  beer  was 
famous  at  this  date,  and  was  patronised  by  royalty. 
A  curious  rule,  marking  the  date  1662,  was  the  order  for 
the  boys  to  smoke  tobacco  in  school  dailv,  as  a  preventa- 
tive against  the  plague  ;  boys  were  even  whipped  for  not 
smoking.  It  could  not  have  been  pleasant  for  the  Head- 
master and  Usher,  although  they  were  probably  provided 
with  a  pipe  of  tobacco  themselves ;  and  the  scene  in 
school  must  have  been  very  curious.  It  was  in  Moun- 
tague"'s    time   that    Samuel    Pepys,  the   diarist,  paid    his 


ETON    IN    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     95 

immortal  visit  to  Eton  in  February  166f  in  the  company 
of  Dr.  Child,  the  organist  of  St.  George''s  Chapel,  where 
he  found  "  all  mighty  fine,"  especially  the  College  beer, 
and  "  the  School  good."  In  1671  Thomas  Mountague 
was  succeeded  as  Head-master  by  John  Rosewell,  under 
whom  the  school  continued  to  increase  in  numbers  and 
repute.  A  list  of  the  school  in  1678 — the  earliest 
complete  list  extant — gives  the  names  of  207  boys,  78  of 
whom  were  in  College.  The  seventh  form  had  long  been 
abolished,  the  sixth  being  the  highest.  In  each  form, 
except  the  sixth,  the  names  of  Collegers  and  oppi- 
dans are  given  separately.  In  this  list  also,  brothers 
were  distinguished  by  the  style  of  major,  minor,  and 
mininuis,  and  so  forth,  as  at  the  present  day.  ]{ose\vell 
resigned  his  post  in  1680,  through  distress,  it  is  said,  from 
having  caused  a  boy's  death  through  flogging.  Charles 
RodericJi  (1667),  his  successor,  was  more  notorious  from 
the  circumstances  connected  with  his  promotion  to  be 
Provost  of  King's  than  for  his  work  as  Head-master  of 
Eton.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  Usher,  John  Neichnroun-Ji 
(1673),  who  has  been  highly  extolled  for  his  management 
of  the  school.  In  his  time  Upper  School  was  rebuilt, 
and  a  porter  attached  to  the  gateway  under  it,  to  })re- 
vent  the  scholars  from  going  out  at  night,  which  they 
seem  to  have  done  in  Roderick's  time  with  the  help 
of  false  keys.  Newborough  was  succeeded  by  Andrexc 
Snape  (1689),  chaplain  to  Queen  Anne.  Dr.  Snape  made 
himself  famous  by  his  controversy  with  Dr.  Iloadlv, 
Bishop  of  Bangor,  and  the  '  Bangorian  Controversv '  on 


96  ETON    COLLEGE 

orthodoxy  cairied  confusion  and  dispute  even  into  the 
staff  of  Masters  at  Eton.  When  Dr.  Snaps  was  pro- 
moted to  be  Provost  of  King's  in  1720,  the  numbers  of 
the  school  had  risen  to  399.  In  1718  the  numbers  had 
been  353,  the  forms  being  divided  into  Sixth,  Fifth, 
Remove,  Fourth,  Third,  Lower  Greek,  Second,  Lower 
Remove,  First  Form,  and  Bible  Seat.  After  1720  the 
numbers  rose  to  425,  but  fell  again  after  the  crash  of 
the  South  Sea  Bubble.  Assistant-masters  were  now 
employed  directly  in  the  school.  The  oppidans,  who 
were  lodged  and  boarded  in  Eton,  were  usually  entrusted 
to  private  tutors,  who  took  part  in  the  school  teaching 
without  being  on  the  regular  staff.  In  a  Lower  boy's 
bill  for  1719  charges  are  made :  '  To  Mr.  Burchet  halfe 
a  year's  Tuition '  and  '  to  Mr.  Good  [the  Usher]  halfe 
a  year's  Teaching.'  Dr.  Snape  was  succeeded  by  Henry 
Blmid  (1695),  an  assiduous  courtier  and  adherent  of  the 
Whig  party,  who  was  rewarded  in  1728  by  promotion 
to  the  rich  deanery  of  Durham,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  William  George  (1715),  an  accomplished  scholar, 
more  remarkable  for  the  quality  of  the  boys  who  came  to 
Eton  under  his  regime  than  conspicuous  for  his  merits 
or  his  success  as  a  Head -master. 

The  laxity  at  court  and  the  flagrant  abuse  of  pat- 
ronage led  to  some  competition  for  the  Fellowships  at 
Eton.  During  the  dispute  between  King's  and  Eton, 
mentioned  before.  Archbishop  Laud  had  decreed  that  out 
of  the  seven  Fellowships  at  Eton — that  being  the  number 
given  instead  of  the  ten  appointed  by  the   Founder — at 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  97 

least  five  shoukl  be  reserved  for  King"'s-men,  and  one 
annexed  to  the  vicarage  of  Windsor.  Charles  II.  was 
not  a  man  to  be  troubled  with  such  small  worries  as 
statutes,  and  in  the  case  of  patronage  the  chief  inipor- 
tuner  usually  carried  the  day.  The  powerful  Grenville 
family,  who  had  with  Monck  been  some  of  the  king's 
trustiest  cham})ions,  had  obtained  the  promise  of  a  Fellow- 
ship for  one  of  their  relatives.  When  the  vacancy  came 
the  king  appointed  Denys  Grenville ;  but  having  forgotten 
that  this  vacancy  had  been  '  ear-marked '  for  the  vicarage 
of  Windsor,  he  was  forced  to  cancel  the  appointment  and 
to  appoint  Dr.  Heaver,  the  Vicar  of  Windsor,  which  was 
right  and  appropriate.  He  promised  the  next  to  Gren- 
ville, who  exchanged  his  reversion  with  one  Timothy 
Thriscrosse,  perhaps  the  Mr.  '  Thruscross '  who  baptized 
one  of  Izaak  Walton's  children  in  London.  When  the 
next  vacancy  occurred  Thriscrosse  claimed  his  right, 
but  the  Earl  of  Arlington  induced  the  king  to  appoint 
Henry  Bold  of  Christ  Church,  whose  election  was  com- 
pleted before  Thriscrosse  had  time,  as  he  did,  to  get  the 
complaisant  monarch  to  revoke  it.  Thriscrosse,  there- 
fore, had  to  wait  a  year.  Provost  Allestree  petitioned 
the  king  to  confirm  Laud's  decree.  The  king  willingly 
acceded  in  1670,  and  the  very  next  year  violated  it  by 
appointing  Zachary  Cradock  of  Queen's  College,  Cam- 
bridge, and  six  years  later  Henry  Godolphin,  an  Etonian 
scholar,  but  not  a  King's-man,  Canon  of  St.  Paul's 
and  Fellow  of  All  Souls',  Oxford.  This  was  too  much 
for  the  King's-men,  who  this  time  got  Archbishop  Sancroft 


98  ETON    COLLEGE 

to  remonstrate  with  the  king,  and  obtain  his  signature 
to  a  stronger  decree  than  before.  From  this  time  there 
was  no  further  dispute. 

Provost  Allestree  terminated  his  honourable  life  in 
January  168f.  Edmund  Waller,  now  that  Clarendon 
was  out  of  the  way,  applied  again,  "  tug'd  hard "  (as 
Antony  a  Wood  says),  for  the  coveted  post.  Charles 
referred  the  matter  to  the  Privy  Council,  who  decided 
in  favour  of  the  statutes.  The  king  therefore  appointed 
Dr.  Cradock,  who,  although  not  an  Etonian,  had  been 
very  active  in  the  management  of  the  school,  Antony 
a  Wood  says,  however,  that  Cradock  was  appointed  "  by 
Virtue  of  the  Election  thereunto  of  the  Fellows."  Upon 
his  death,  in  1695,  the  College  submitted  meekly  to  the 
appointment  of  Dr.  Godolphin,  who  had  been  a  Fellow 
for  eighteen  years, 

Henry  Godolphin  was  a  man  likely  to  be  useful  to  the 
school.  His  brother  Sidney,  Earl  of  Godolphin,  was  the 
most  influential  Minister  of  the  day,  and  the  College 
could  hardly  fail  to  prosper  under  the  beneficent  sun  of 
such  a  high  connection,  Godolphin  proved  a  kind  and 
munificent  ruler.  He  died  in  1732,  and  left  in  his  will  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  improve  the  scholars'  Commons. 
The  well-known  statue  of  Henry  VI.  in  the  school-yard 
was  set  up  at  his  expense.  Considerable  alterations  were 
made  at  this  time  in  the  internal  decoration  of  the  chapel. 
In  accordance  with  the  taste  of  the  time,  and  a  style 
of  decoration  introduced  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  and 
other  leading  architects  of  the  day,  the  whole   interior 


HEiNRY    GODOLriU.N,    D.IJ. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  Provost's  Lodge,  Eton  Coiicgc. 


To/ace  />. 


ETON    IN    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     99 

was  encased  in  panelling,  reaching  up  to  the  hase  of  the 
windows.  A  new  wooden  roof  was  constructed,  plastered 
and  painted  over.  A  high  organ-screen  was  constructed 
under  the  choir  arch,  entirely  blocking  out  the  west 
window  and  the  ante-chapel.  The  work  cost  a  great  deal 
of  money,  which  was  defrayed  by  a  subscription  among 
present  and  old  Etonians,  the  Provost  contributing  one 
thousand  pounds  out  of  his  OAvn  pocket. 

The  names  of  distinguished  Etonians  during  the  earlier 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century  are  difficult  to  recover 
owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  public  affairs,  which  pre- 
vented some  from  going  there  and  interrupted  the  careers 
of  others.  In  addition  to  Robert  Boyle,  Edmund  Waller, 
and  Bishop  Pearson,  who  have  been  already  mentioned, 
the  names  should  be  recorded  of  Henry  Afon;  the  '  Pla- 
tonist,'  who  went  to  Eton  in  1628,  and,  in  spite  of  a 
Calvinistic  education,  became  one  of  the  most  liberal- 
minded  philosophical  writers  of  his  day ;  and  of  Dr. 
Heimj  Hcomiiond,  afterwards  of  Magdalen  College, 
Oxford,  the  royalist  rector  of  Penshurst,  who  was  so 
closely  connected  with  the  final  scenes  in  the  tragedy  of 
Charles  I.  A  friend  and  contemporary  of  Hammond 
at  Eton,  Sir  Philip  IVarzcick,  also  an  eminent  royalist, 
became  after  the  Restoration  Clerk  of  the  Signet 
and  Secretary  to  the  Treasury ;  moreover  it  is  from 
Warwick's  Memoirs  of  Charles  I.  that  much  of  the 
history  of  the  period  is  derived.  Another  royalist 
Etonian,  Henry  Bard  (1632),  after  losing  an  arm  in  the 
king's    service,   and    fighting   at   Naseby   and    in    other 


100  ETON    COLLEGE 

battles,  was  rewarcled  for  his  services  to  the  king  first 
with  a  baronetcy  and  then  with  the  viscounty  of 
Bellaniont;  he  followed  his  sovereign  into  exile  at  the 
Hague,  and  was  despatched  by  Charles  II,  on  an  embassy 
to  Persia,  during  which  he  was  overwhelmed  by  a  sand- 
storm in  Arabia,  truly  the  most  curious  fate  of  any 
Etonian.  Two  l)oys,  who  proceeded  together  from  Eton 
to  King's  in  1634,  had  also  curious  careers;  one,  Anthony 
Ascham  (1634),  espoused  the  cause  of  the  parliament, 
went  to  Spain,  and  became  resident  Minister  at  Madrid, 
where  he  was  murdered  by  some  of  his  own  countrymen ; 
and  the  other,  Samuel  Colli n.^  (1634),  went  on  a  farther 
journey  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  resided  at  Moscow, 
as  Minister  to  the  Emperor  of  Muscovy,  for  nine  years. 
In  1622,  among  the  scholars  elected  to  King's  ap- 
pears the  name  of  Edwai'd  Hmctrey,  the  precursor  of  a 
family  whose  name  has  ever  been  treated  with  honoured 
respect  at  Eton,  and  who  in  after  years  were  to  exercise  a 
powerful  and  undying  influence  on  the  school.  Thomas 
Page  (1628),  became  Provost  of  King's  in  1675.  He  was 
succeeded  in  this  post  in  1681  by  another  Etonian, 
John  Coplestone  (1641),  a  third  Etonian,  Steplien  Upman 
(1661),  a  Fellow  of  Eton,  being  an  unsuccessful  candidate 
on  the  latter  occasion,  and  again  in  1689,  although  he 
gained  the  support  of  Archbishop  Sancroft,  on  applying 
for  the  necessary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity, 

After  the  Restoration,  dating  from  Dr.  Rosewell's 
appointment,  the  number  of  distinguished  Etonians  in- 
creases rapidly,  and  among  the  King's  scholars  alone  there 


ETON  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  101 

are  many  names  well  known  in  after  life.  In  1675  there 
was  elected  to  King's  William  Fleehcood,  afterwards 
Fellow  and  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph;  in  1677,  George 
Stanhope^  afterwards  Dean  of  Canterbury;  in  1682, 
Stephen  Weston,  afterwards  Fellow  and  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
whose  name  is  preserved  for  ever  at  Eton  in  '  AVeston's 
Yard";  in  1687,  Echcard  Waddingion,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Winchester ;  in  the  following  year,  Francis  Hare,  who 
became  a  Fellow,  and  was  celebrated  afterwards  as  Chap- 
lain-General to  the  Army,  and  Bishop  successively  of 
St.  Asaph  and  Chichester ;  in  1689  occurs  the  name 
of  Andrew  Snape,  afterwards  Head-master  and  Provost 
of  King's ;  and  in  1691  that  of  Barnlunn  Goode,  who 
was  ill-advised  enough  to  measure  literary  swords  with 
Alexander  Pope,  and  was  immortalised  by  the  poet  in 
TJie  Dunciad  as 

Sneering  Goode^  half  malice  aud  half  whim, 
A  fiend  in  glee,  ridiculously  grim. 

His  younger  brother,  Francis  Goode  (1695)  was  Usher 
at  Eton. 

Two  King's  scholars,  Thomas  Johnson  (1682)  and  Wil- 
liam Willi/mott  (1692),  returned  to  Eton  as  Assistant- 
masters,  and  were  associated  in  the  composition  of  some 
of  the  school-books  which  remained  in  use  at  Eton  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years.  AVillymott  was  afterwards 
Vice-Provost  of  King's,  and  translator  of  the  works  of 
Thomas  ii  Kempis.  In  1695  Dr.  Bland  was  accompanied 
to   King's   by  a  boy,  destined,  perhaps,  to  be   the   most 


102  ETON    COLLEGE 

distinguished  '  tug  "■  ever  bred  at  Eton.  Robert  Walpole 
was  at  Eton  under  Dr.  Newborough,  and  was  dis- 
tinguished there  for  his  classical  scholarship  and  ora- 
tory. His  subsequent  career  as  Prime  Minister  belongs 
to  the  history  of  his  country.  It  is  sufficient  to  note  that 
he  was  the  first  of  a  long  list  of  Prime  Ministers  of  Eng- 
land who  were  educated  at  Eton.  His  younger  brother, 
Horace  Walpole^  the  diplomatist,  afterwards  created  Baron 
Walpole,  was  a  few  years  junior  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole  at 
Eton,  and  was  elected  to  King's  in  1698.  At  the  same 
time  with  the  Walpoles  at  Eton  there  were  other  budding 
statesmen  in  Henry  St.  John,  Lord  BoUngbrolr,  the 
brilliant  genius,  whose  political  vagaries  are  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  his  scholarship  and  his  unrivalled  con- 
tributions to  English  prose ;  and  Charles,  Lord  Toxcnshend, 
afterwards  Chief  Secretary  of  State,  a  member  of  a  family 
which  sent  several  brilliant  youths  to  be  prepared  at  Eton 
for  distinguished  careers  in  after-life ;  and  Sir  WiUiam 
Wyndham,  one  of  the  most  admired  statesmen  of  his  day, 
of  whom  it  was  said  by  a  contemporary  that  '  Everything 
about  him  seemed  great.  There  was  no  inconsistency  in 
his  composition ;  all  the  parts  of  his  character  suited  and 
helped  one  another.''  Among  other  oppidans  there  may  be 
noted  the  different  careers  of  James,  Jirst  Earl  Stanhope,  the 
eminent  general ;  Thomas  Sherlock,  who  was  so  well  known 
for  his  athletic  j)rowess  that  in  after  years,  having  become 
in  succession  Master  of  the  Temple,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  and 
eventually  of  Salisbury,  he  was  still  known  as  '  the  plunging 
prelate ' ;  Charles  Talbot,  who  rose  to  be  Lord  Chancellor 


ETON    IN    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY     103 

of  England ;  and  William  Broome,  a  minor  light  of  poetry, 
who  was  called  in  to  assist  the  exhausted  muse  of  Alex- 
ander Pope  in  completing  the  translation  of  Homer's 
Odyssey.  Sir  Thojuas  Vescy  was  created  a  baronet, 
besides  being  made  Bishop  of  Killaloe  and  later  of 
Ossory ;  he  was  the  father  of  the  famous  "  Blue- 
Stocking,"  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Vesey.  Stephen  Poyntz^  cap- 
tain of  the  school  in  1702,  in  later  life  became  governor 
to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  attained  a  comfortable 
position  in  the  social  world,  insomuch  that  he  eventually 
became  grandfather  of  the  Harrovian  Premier,  Viscount 
Althorp.  Thomas  Thackeray,  who  returned  to  Eton  as 
Assistant-master,  quarrelled  with  Dr.  Snape  during  the 
Bangorian  controversy,  in  which  he  took  the  part  of 
Bishop  Hoadly,  and,  resigning  his  post,  became  even- 
tually Head-master  of  Harrow  School,  an  example  fol- 
lowed by  more  than  one  distinguished  Etonian  in  later 
days.  Edward  Littleton,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Snape,  who  was 
elected  to  King's  in  1716,  also  returned  to  Eton  as  a 
tutor  and  Assistant-master,  and  eventually  became  a 
Fellow,  holding  the  valuable  Eton  living  of  Mapledurham. 
In  1718  a  distinguished  lawyer  was  elected  to  King's  in 
the  person  of  Nicliolas  Hardinge,  reputed  the  best  scholar 
of  his  day,  afterwards  Chief  Clerk  of  the  House  of 
Commons  and  Secretary  to  the  Treasury.  Contemporary 
with  him  was  a  future  Under-Secretary  of  State  and  Privy 
Councillor,  Edxcard  Weston,  son  of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
mentioned  before. 


ETON  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

Under  Dr,  Bland,  a  typical  Head-master  of  the  old 
school,  Eton  attained  still  greater  prosperity,  and  there 
is  hardly  a  year  in  which  the  name  of  some  Eton  boy, 
Colleger,  or  oppidan,  does  not  occur  who  was  to  be 
highly  distinguished  in  later  life.  The  most  distinguished 
Etonian  of  this  date  is  WUliam  Pitt,  afterwards  the 
great  Minister  and  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  the  real  founder 
of  England's  empire  in  the  world.  Pitt  was  at  Eton 
for  several  years,  from  1719  to  1726,  with  his  elder 
brother  Thomas  Pitt,  afterwards  Lord  Camelford,  Some 
letters  and  school  bills,  preserved  in  his  family,  show  that 
the  two  Pitts  were  entrusted  to  a  tutor  named  William 
Burchett,  and  that  the  fee  to  him  Mas  distinct  from 
that  paid  to  the  Usher  or  the  Head-master.  Burchett 
writes  to  their  father  from  Eton  in  February  1722,  and 
says  of  the  younger  boy  that  he  "has  made  a  great 
Progress  since  his  coming  hither,  indeed  I  never  was 
concerned  with  a  young  gentleman  of  so  good  abilities, 
and  at  the  same  time  of  so  good  a  Disposition,  and  there 
is  no  question  to  be  made  but  he  will  answer  all  vour 
hopes."  And  Pitt  did  not  disappoint  Burchett's  fore- 
cast, for  his  life  forms  part  of  the  history  of  his  country. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     105 

Round  Pitt  also  circled  a  group  of  Etonians,  whose  names 
in  their  families,  their  school,  and  their  place  in  the 
history  of  their  country,  will  ever  be  associated  together. 
Pitfs  future  brother-in-law,  Richard  G?riwiUe,  afterwards 
Earl  Temple,  who  declined  the  Premiership,  and  George 
Grenville,  who  accepted  it,  are  indissolubly  connected 
with  the  political  history  of  their  time.  To  this  band 
of  Etonians  belonged  also  their  cousins  George  Lyttclton^ 
the  poet-statesman,  afterwards  to  be  known  as  the  '  good 
Lord  Lyttelton,""  and  his  brother,  Charles  Lyttelton,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Carlisle,  the  worthy  forerunners  of  a 
notable  branch  of  the  family  a  century  or  so  later. 
George  Lyttelton  at  Eton  wrote  English  poetry  as  easily 
as  Latin  verse,  possibly  too  fluently.  His  writings, 
however,  are  not  altogether  forgotten  in  the  history  of 
English  literature,  a  more  fortunate  fate  than  that  whicli 
has  befallen  the  pious  dithyrambs  of  his  future  brother- 
in-law,  Gilbert  West,  and  those  of  the  gentle  Sneyd 
Davies,  contemporaries  at  Eton.  Eton  also  sent  forth 
at  this  time  another  future  Premier,  notorious  rather 
than  distinguished,  in  John  Stuart,  Earl  of  Bute,  and  a 
statesman  of  another  type,  both  distinguished  and 
notorious,  in  Henry  Fox,  afterwards  Lord  Holland. 
Henry  Fielding,  the  famous  novelist,  was  at  Eton  with 
the  Pitts,  Grenvilles,  and  Lytteltons,  and  ever  cherished  a 
tender  affection  for  the  school.  In  Tom  Jones,  during  an 
impassioned  address  to  Learning,  he  says,  "Thee  in  thy 
favourite  fields,  where  the  limpid  gently  rolling  Thames 
washes  thy  Etonian  banks,  I  have  \\orshipped.     To  thee 


106  ETON    COLLEGE 

at  thy  birchen  altar  with  true  Spartan  devotion  I  have 
sacrificed."  Sir  Charles  Hanhury  Williams;  a  good 
classical  scholar,  was  a  noted  figure  in  society  as  a 
diplomatist  and  a  satirical  poet.  Evelyn  Pierrepont, 
Duke  of  Kingston^  also  a  prominent  figure  in  social 
life,  owes  notoriety  to  his  disreputable  wife,  or  pseudo- 
wife,  the  bigamous  Miss  Chudleigh.  Frederick  Cormvallis, 
whose  family  was  for  generations  educated  at  Eton,  rose 
from  being  an  oppidan  to  be  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
He  had  a  twin  brother  at  Eton,  Edicard  CornwalUs,  after- 
wards a  general  in  the  army,  and  they  w^ere  so  alike  that 
it  was  difficult  to  know  them  asunder.  A  curious  figure 
at  Eton  must  have  been  Thomas  Augustine  Arm,  the 
future  musician  and  composer  of  '  Rule  Britannia.'  His 
musical  tendencies,  like  those  of  another  great  English 
nmsician  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,  were  irrepressible 
and  strongly  developed  at  Eton.  Dr.  Burney  records 
that  "  with  a  miserable,  cracked  common  flute  he  used 
to  torment  them  night  and  day,  when  not  obliged  to 
attend  the  school." 

Dr.  Bland  succeeded  Dr.  Godolphin  as  Provost  in 
February  1732,  but  the  prosperity  of  the  school,  and 
the  budding  distinctions  of  Etonians,  continued  to  grow^ 
and  multiply  under  the  auspices  of  Bland's  successor 
as  Head-master,  William  George.  Dr.  George  was  a 
great  contrast  to  the  amiable  Dr.  Bland.  He  was 
pedantic  and  queer-tempered,  and  nicknamed  '  Dionysius 
the  Tyrant.'  Eton,  however,  did  not  suffer  under  his 
rule.     During  his  fourteen  years'  rule  up  to  his  transla- 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     107 

tion  in  1742  to  the  Provostship  of  King's,  in  which  he 
succeeded  his  predecessor  at  Eton,  Dr.  Snape,  the  Hsts  of 
Eton  school  show  a  continuity  of  distinguished  names, 
both  among  Collegers  and  oppidans.  Taking  the  Collegers 
alone  who  were  elected  to  King's,  the  names  occur  in 
1721  of  Thomas  Alorell^  a  learned  divine  and  antiquary; 
Wiliiam  Buttk',  one  of  Eton's  most  distinguished  scholars, 
son  of  an  Assistant-master,  and  afterwards  married  to 
the  aforesaid  Barnham  Goode's  daughter.  Dr.  Battie 
seems  to  have  been  able  to  combine  the  respectable  and 
venerable  character  of  a  scholar  and  physician  with  the 
most  undignified  tomfoolery.  In  1723  four  of  the  six 
scholars  elected  to  King's  became  distinguished  :  Stephen 
Sleech,  as  Fellow  and  Provost  of  Eton ;  John  Sumner^ 
as  Head-master  and  Provost  of  King's ;  John  Ezcer,  as 
Bisho})  of  Llandaff  and  Bangor ;  and  John  Chapman,  as 
Archdeacon  of  Sudbury,  a  disappointed  and  vigorous 
theological  controversialist.  Thomas  Reynolds  (1724), 
afterwards  Fellow  of  Eton,  is  best  known  as  the  uncle 
of  the  famous  painter,  Sir  Joshua  Ilevnolds,  who  painted 
a  magnificent  portrait  of  him,  now  in  the  Provost's 
Lodge.  Richard  Monnteneij,  elected  to  King's  in  1725, 
was  the  well-known  editor  of  Demosthenes,  and  after- 
wards Baron  of  the  Exchequer  in  Ireland.  Ralph 
Thk'knesse,  elected  in  1726,  afterwards  Assistant-master 
at  Eton  and  editor  of  Phcedrus,  serves  to  illustrate 
the  extent  to  which  music  was  cultivated  at  Eton. 
When  on  a  visit  to  his  brother,  Philip  Thicknesse, 
at  Bath,  he  died  suddenly  at  a  morning  concert,  while 


108  ETON    COLLEGE 

playing  the  first  violin  at  the  performance  of  one  of 
his  own  compositions.  In  1731  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated Etonians  was  elected  to  King's.  Charles  Pratt, 
the  son  of  a  Chief-Justice  of  the  King''s  Bench,  was 
destined  to  attain  even  higher  rank  in  the  same  pro- 
fession as  his  father,  and  through  his  own  abilities  and 
his  friendship  with  William  Pitt  and  George  Grenville  he 
became  not  only  Chief-Justice,  but  also  Lord  Chancellor, 
being  created  after  retirement.  Earl  Camden.  Etonians 
will  cherish  the  memory  of  "an  orator  so  accomplished, 
a  judge  so  firm  a  friend  to  liberty,  a  statesman  so 
far-sighted  and  pure-minded,""  as  Charles  Pratt,  Earl 
Camden,  The  name  of  Jacob  Bryant  (1736)  connects  the 
scholars  in  College  with  a  famous  and  interesting  group 
of  oppidans.  The  centre  of  this  group  was  Horace 
Walpole,  the  sprightly  art-amateur  and  writer.  Walpole 
went  to  Eton  in  1727,  and  though  a  delicate  boy,  unable 
to  play  games,  he  loved  to  dwell  on  Eton  when  corre- 
sponding with  his  former  comrades,  Thomas  Graij,  the 
poet,  Richard  West,  deprived  by  an  early  death  of  possible 
literary  distinction,  and  Thomas  Ashton  (1733),  afterwards 
Fellow  of  Eton  and  an  eminent  London  })reacher.  The 
four  friends  formed  a  '  Quadruple  Alliance '  under  the 
names  of  Tydeus,  Orosmades,  Almanzor,  and  Plato. 
True  also  was  Walpole's  friendship  for  George  and 
Charks  Montagu,  with  whom  he  formed  another  coterie 
known  as  'the  Triumvirate.'  In  the  last  few  months 
of  his  life  Walpole  described  himself  as  a  "  superannuated 
old  Etonian."" 


THOMAS   GRAY,    AT   THE   AGE    OF    FIFTEEN. 

From  an  Engravuig  by  J.  Hopwood,  after  an  Oil  Painting  by 
J.  Richardson. 


To  face  p.  log. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     109 

Jacob  Brijant  enjoyed  an  innnense  reputation  in  his 
day  for  learning  and  scholarship.  Alter  a  long  life,  as 
'  the  sage  of  Cypenhani,''  he  is  best  known  by  his  most 
inglorious  achievement,  his  championship  of  Chatterton's 
'  Rowley '  poems.  Thomas  Gray  was  the  nephew  of  Mr. 
Antrobus,  one  of  the  Assistant-masters.  He  not  only 
stereotyped,  so  to  speak,  his  literary  rank  with  his  famous 
Elegy^  but  he  also  enshrined  Eton  in  the  temple  of  poetry 
by  his  '  Ode  on  a  Distant  Prospect  of  Eton  College."' 
Great  as  the  famous  Ode  is  as  a  specimen  of  literary 
craft,  there  may  be  some  Etonians  who  will  feel  less 
moved  by  Gray's  somewhat  artificial  lines : — 

Ah  happy  Hills,  ah  pleasing  Shade, 

Ah  Fields  beloved  in  vain, 

Where  once  my  careless  Childhood  stray'd 

A  straug-er  yet  to  Pain. 

I  feel  the  gales  that  from  ye  blow 

A  momentary  Bliss  bestow. 

As  waving  fresh  their  gladsome  AVing, 

My  weary  Soul  they  seemed  to  soothe, 

And  redolent  of  Joy  and  Youth 

To  breathe  a  second  Spring — 

than  by  the  simple,  tender  stanzas  of  his  friend  Richard 

West  :— 

Oh !  how  I  long  again  with  those, 
Whom  first  my  boyish  heart  had  chose 
Together  through  the  friendly  shade 
To  stray  as  once  I  stray'd ! 

Their  presence  would  the  scene  endear. 
Like  Paradise  would  all  appear  ; 
More  sweet  around  the  flowers  would  blow. 
More  soft  the  waters  flow. 


110  ETON    COLLEGE 

WilUum  Coli',  one  of  Walpole's  correspondents,  missed 
his  election  to  King's,  but  eventually  became  a  gentleman- 
commoner  of  the  College  together  with  Walpole.  After- 
wards he  resided  at  Milton,  near  Cambridge,  where  he 
compiled  the  voluminous  manuscript  collections  of  history, 
gossip,  and  archaeology,  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  British 
Museum,  as  a  treasure-house  for  students,  including  those 
of  the  history  of  Eton  College.  A  brother  antiquary  was 
Jeremiah  Milles,  afterwards  Dean  of  Exeter  and  President 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  who  shared  Bryant's  un- 
fortunate belief  in  the  genuineness  of  Chatterton's  poems. 
The  two  brothers,  Tlwmas  and  Richard  Ra~iclinson,  were 
famous  for  their  antiquarian  and  book-loving  tastes,  com- 
menced at  an  early  age  at  Eton  ;  the  latter  bequeathed 
to  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  the  famous  collection 
of  manuscripts  which  bears  his  name.  Richard  Oxcen 
Cambridge  is  famous  as  the  author  of  The  Scrib- 
Icriad,  a  satirical  poem,  much  quoted  but  little  read. 
Like  Bryant,  he  was  highly  esteemed  and  venerated  by 
his  contemporaries  as  a  scholar  and  man  of  letters. 
William  Coxe  (1737)  became  Archdeacon  of  Wiltshire, 
and  as  historian  of  Charles  V.  and  Marlborough,  has 
maintained  his  reputation  to  the  present  day.  Christo- 
pher Anstey  (1742)  brightened  literature  with  one 
famous  satirical  poem,  The  Neiv  Bath  Guide.  Robert 
Glynn,  afterwards  Glynn-Cloberry  (1737),  and  George 
Baker  (1741),  are  well-known  names  in  the  medical  pro- 
fession. Sir  George  Baker  becoming  private  medical  at- 
tendant to  the  king.     Two  other  King's  scholars,  George 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     111 

Lewis  Jones  (1741)  and  Edxcard  Yowig  (1742),  attained 
distinction  in  the  Church  of  Ireland,  as  Bishops  respec- 
tively of  Kilmore  and  Dromore.  By  no  means  the  least 
attractive  figure  among  the  oppidans  at  this  date  was 
George  Augustus  Selxvyn^  the  famous  wit,  the  playmate 
of  politics  and  society,  the  master  of  that 

Social  wit,  which,  never  kindling  strife, 
Blazed  in  the  small,  sweet  courtesies  of  life. 

Two  Etonians  were  conspicuous  in  after-life  for  their 
share  in  the  government  of  the  country.  John  Montagu, 
fourth  Earl  of  Sandzvkh,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  his  generation.  For  many  years  he  practically 
controlled  the  Admiralty,  and  much  of  the  blame  attach- 
ing to  the  mismanagement  of  the  navy  during  the 
American  war  was  laid  somewhat  unreasonably  to  his 
charge.  He  was  the  most  trusted  friend  of  his  sovereign, 
George  III.,  and  his  assiduity  in  office  was  such  that  he 
is  stated  to  have  invented  the  well-known  sandwich  as 
a  means  of  snatching  a  hasty  meal  without  leaving  his 
work.  Of  all  sports  and  athletics  Sandwich  was  an 
ardent  votary — cricket,  fencing,  racing — whatever  came 
in  his  way.  Music,  too,  and  the  drama,  found  in  him  a 
warm  and  liberal  patron.  Unfortunately  for  Sandwich 
his  brazen-faced  profligacy  and  indecorous  profanity  left 
a  stiffma  on  his  name.  This  and  his  association  with 
Wilkes,  and  subsequent  behaviour  to  Wilkes,  raised  him 
a  cloud  of  enemies,  whose  vituperation  remains  to  this 
day  triumphant.     Another   able    statesman   was  Charles 


112  ETON    COLLEGE 

Montagu,  Marquis  of  Halifax,  who  filled  many  offices 
in  the  State,  and  was  especially  distinguished  as  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland.  Sir  John  Cust,  Bart.,  a  member 
of  a  family  that  has  now  for  seven  generations  sent  its 
sons  to  Eton,  rose  to  be  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons at  a  critical  period  in  its  history,  and  died  a  victim 
to  the  strain  on  his  constitution  imposed  on  him  by  his 
office.  From  Eton,  too,  at  this  date  came  two  soldier 
heroes,  the  famous  Marquess  ofGranhy  and  Henry  Seymour 
Conway,  Horace  Walpole''s  cousin  and  friend,  the  two 
most  popular  generals  of  their  day.  Earl  Howe,  the 
victor  of  the  glorious  'First  of  June,'  was  a  short  time 
at  Eton,  but  his  brother  William,  afterwards  Viscount 
Howe,  remained  longer,  and  was  destined  to  play  one  of 
the  most  honourable  parts  in  the  war  with  the  American 
Colonies.  Sir  William  Draper  (1740)  distinguished  him- 
self as  the  conqueror  of  Manila  in  the  Philippine  Islands, 
and  also  in  the  unexpected  role  of  an  actor  in  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  mysterious  '  Junius.' 

William  George,  the  Head-master,  was  elected  Pro- 
vost of  King's  in  1742,  and  was  succeeded  by  one  of  the 
Assistant-masters,  William  Cooke  (1730),  a  former  scholar 
and  King's-man.  Cooke  was  not  a  great  success  as  an  ad- 
ministrator, although  he  was  a  good  scholar.  After  three 
years  he  resigned,  ostensibly  owing  to  ill-health,  and 
eventually  became  a  Fellow  of  the  College,  and  later 
Provost  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  in  which  post, 
oddly  enough,  he  succeeded  his  successor  in  the  Head- 
mastership   of   Eton.     William    Cole,    the   antiquary,    a 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     113 

man  of  strong  prej iiclices,  described  Cooke  as  "a  formal, 
impotent  Pedant,  who  will  be  a  schoolmaster  in  what- 
ever station  of  life  his  fortune  may  advance  him  to." 
The  school,  however,  continued  to  prosper  and  multiply. 

Dr.  Cooke  was  succeeded  as  Head-master  by  the  Lower- 
master,  Johi  Sumner  (1723),  an  Eton  and  King's  scholar 
from  the  west  country,  who  was  the  first  member  of  a 
family  destined  to  confer  great  lustre  on  the  scholastic 
annals  of  Eton  College.  Both  Cooke  and  Sunmer  illus- 
trate the  prevailing  advantages  at  Eton  due  to  a  family 
connection  with  members  of  the  Foundation.  In  the  list 
of  Eton  and  King''s  scholars  several  names  occur  fre- 
cjuently,  generation  by  generation,  showing  in  how  small 
a  circle  the  world  of  Eton  moved  at  this  date.  Earliest 
of  these,  and  perhaps  the  most  honoured,  is  the  familiar 
name  of  Hawtrey,  already  mentioned  in  these  pages. 
The  family  of  Goad  has  also  been  alluded  to  before. 
About  1690  the  organist  at  Eton  was  named  Sleech, 
whose  widow  re-married  Dr.  Newborough,  the  Head- 
master. His  son,  Richard  Slecch  (1693),  became  a  Fellow 
of  Eton  in  1715,  and  Canon  of  Windsor,  and  his  daughter 
married  liishop  Weston  of  '  Weston's  Yard.'  Canon 
Sleech  himself  married  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Upman, 
Fellow  of  Eton,  and  was  the  father  of  Stephen  Sleec} 
(1723),  who  became  Fellow  of  Eton  in  1729,  and  sue 
ceeded  Dr.  IJland  as  Provost  in  1746',  hokliiig  that 
post  for  nineteen  years.  Of  Provost  Sleech's  sisters,  one 
married  Charles  Haxctreij  (1706),  another  married  George 
Harris,  Fellow  of  Eton,  in  1731,  and  a  third  was  the  wife 


114  ETON    COLLEGE 

of  Dr.  Cooke,  the  Head-master.  Henry  Sleech  (1741), 
a  Master  at  Eton,  and  another  member  of  the  family, 
married  Dr.  Cooke's  sister,  and  their  daughter  married 
Thomas  Dampier,  the  younger,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Ely. 
The  members  of  the  Sumner  family  will  be  alluded  to 
hereafter.  By  such  family  combinations  was  Eton  College 
governed,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  tone  of  its 
administration  was  essentially  conservative. 

John  Sumner  does  not  appear  to  have  made  any  great 
mark  as  a  Head-master,  and  during  the  nine  years  of  his 
Head-mastership  the  most  important  external  event  seems 
to  have  been  a  visit  from  George  II.,  in  August  1747, 
when  he  was  received  with  Latin  orations  from  two  of 
the  Collegers,  Sclater  and  Marsham.  Among  the  boys, 
however,  educated  at  Eton  under  Dr.  Sumner,  there 
were  some  who  became  distinguished  in  many  divers 
ways  in  their  subsequent  careers.  Few  names  were  more 
conspicuous  in  the  history  of  England  during  the  second 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  than  that  of  Frederick^ 
Lord  North,  who  left  Eton  in  1749,  leaving  a  reputa- 
tion for  Latin  verses,  and  became  the  clumsy,  obstinate 
Prime  Minister  of  George  III.,  but  nevertheless  the 
most  conspicuous  statesman  who  bridged  the  interval 
between  the  two  William  Pitts.  His  ill-starred  colonial 
policy,  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  the  American  colonies, 
connects  his  name  with  that  of  his  contemporary  at  Eton, 
Charles,  Marquess  Cornioallls,  the  hero  of  the  American 
war,  and  afterwards  to  be  most  highly  distinguished,  as 
Governor-General    of    India    and    Viceroy    of    Ireland. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTiEENTH    CENTURY     115 

While  at  Eton  Cornwallis  had  one  of  his  eyes  accidentally 
injured  by  another  boy,  the  Hon.  Shute  Barr'mgton,  who 
proceeded  to  rise  through  high  positions  in  the  Church 
to  be  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  eventually  to  be  Prime- 
Bishop  of  Uurhani.  Another  hero  of  the  American 
War  was  Hug'h,  Earl  Percy ^  afterwards  second  Duke 
of  Northumberland.  Of  very  different  build  to  these 
Etonians  Avere  Sir  James  Man,sfield  (originally  Manfield) 
(1750),  afterwards  Chief-Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas ; 
George  Steevetis,  the  eccentric,  cross-grained  editor  of 
Shakespeare's  works ;  John  Home,  a  Colleger,  afterwards 
//or/«£?-TboAr^,  the  notorious  Radical;  and  WiU'mm  Smith, 
the  '  gentleman  '  actor,  whom  Churchill,  in  the  Rosciad 
speaks  of  as  "  Smith,  the  genteel,  the  airy,  and  the  smart/ 
It  is  noteworthy  that  Horne-Tooke  was  the  son  of  a 
poulterer  in  London,  although  perhaps  related  to  the 
Vice-Provost  of  the  same  name,  and  Smith  of  a  whole- 
sale grocer  and  tea-dealer  in  the  City.  Joseph  Pote, 
also  the  well-known  Eton  bookseller,  not  only  kept  a 
boarding-house  in  Eton,  but  several  members  of  his 
family  were  educated  on  the  Foundation. 

When  Dr.  Sunnier  resigned  in  1754  the  post  of  Head- 
master, there  seemed  every  probability  that  the  Usher, 
Thomas  Dampier,  would  follow  in  his  footsteps  and  suc- 
ceed to  his  post.  Dampier  was  a  man  highly  po})ular  in 
society,  a  well-known  figure  in  social  and  literary  centres 
in  London,  a  bon  vivant,  and  in  every  way  &  persona  grata 
to  his  aristocratic  pupils  and  their  parents.  After  a  severe 
contest  the  post  of  Head-master  was  conferred  on  Eihcard 


116  ETON    COLLEGE 

Barnard^  a  former  King's  scholar,  who  from  superannuation 
had  proceeded  to  St.  John's  College  instead  of  to  King's 
College  at  Cambridge.  Barnard  was  supported  by  the 
Townshend  family,  to  one  of  whom  he  was  resident  tutor 
at  Eton  two  years  before  his  election.  Dampier,  who  was 
greatly  disappointed,  was  subsequently  rewarded  with  the 
rich  deanery  of  Durham.  The  appointment  of  Barnard, 
however,  proved  in  every  way  successful.  He  was  a  com- 
petent and  elegant  scholar,  and  an  able  administrator. 
Under  him  the  school  grew  and  flourished  in  a  way  which 
was  at  the  time  unprecedented,  and  during  the  eleven 
years  of  his  rule  the  number  of  boys  rose  from  300  or  so 
to  over  500.  Under  Dr.  Barnard  the  school  lists  con- 
tained many  names  from  the  flower  of  the  British  aristo- 
cracy, some  of  whom  obtained  distinction  in  public  life, 
the  oppidans  being  particularly  remarkable  for  their 
abilities  and  accomplishments.  Charles  James  Fox^  the 
brilliant  and  wayward  genius,  whose  very  faults  seemed  to 
add  lustre  to  his  political  eminence;  WilUam  Windham, 
the  handsome  and  polished  orator;  and  William  Wynd- 
ham,  Lord  Grenville,  distinguished  as  a  Latin  scholar  at 
Eton,  afterwards  Prime  Minister,  and  not  the  least  dis- 
tinguished of  a  remarkable  family,  have  left  names  written 
upon  the  history  of  their  country.  His  cousin,  James 
Grenville,  afterwards  created  Baron  Glastonbury,  main- 
tained the  family  tradition.  James  Hare,  wit  and 
politician,  grandson  of  Bishop  Francis  Hare,  an  Etonian 
of  a  former  generation,  was  a  member  of  a  coterie  in 
London,  principally  composed  of  Etonian  contemporaries, 


EDWARD    BARNAKD,    D.D. 
From  tie  Oil  Fainting  in  the  Audit  Room,  Eton  College. 


To /ace  f'.  ti6. 


ETON    IN   EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     117 

conspicuous  among  whom  were  Frederick,  fifth  Earl  of 
Carlisle,  an  aristocratic  poet  and  patron  of  the  fine  arts, 
William,  second  Earl  FitzioilUam,  Henry,  third  Duke 
of  Buccleuch,  Henry  Thomas,  second  Earl  of  Ilchester, 
and  Anthony  Morris  Storer,  the  last  of  whom  left  a 
valuable  collection  of  books  and  prints  to  the  College 
Library. 

Two  Etonians  obtained  conspicuous  honours  in  the 
domain  of  Science.  Charles,  third  Earl  Stanhope,  the 
eccentric  Radical  peer,  has  obtained  more  notoriety  for 
his  sympathy  with  the  French  revolutionists  than  for  his 
numerous  contributions  of  undoubted  value  to  mechanics 
and  experimental  physics.  One  summer  evening  an  Eton 
boy  was  returning  alone  from  bathing,  when  he  was  struck 
by  the  beauty  of  the  flowers  in  the  hedgerows  by  the  lane. 
He  determined  to  study  botany,  though  there  was  no 
one  to  teach  him  but  the  old  wives  of  the  neighbourhood. 
During  the  holidays  he  found  in  his  home  at  Revesby 
Abbey,  in  Lincolnshire,  an  old  book,  Gerard's  Herhall, 
which  he  carried  back  in  triumph  to  Eton.  That  boy 
was  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  afterwards  to  be  the  companion 
of  Captain  Cook  in  the'  voyage  of  the  Endeavour  to 
Australia,  the  discoverer  of  Tahiti  and  Botany  Bay,  and 
for  thirty-two  years  President  of  the  Royal  Society. 

Among  literary  celebrities,  if  of  the  second  rank,  may 
be  named  George  Hardinge,  lawyer,  author,  anticpiary, 
and  poet,  son  of  Nicholas  Hardinge,  the  Etonian  scholar, 
nephew  of  Earl  Camden,  and  uncle  to  one  of  Eton's 
lara:  aves,  a  sailor  hero,  George  NicJwlas  Hardinge,  killed 


118  ETON    COLLEGE 

in  action  off  Ceylon ;  antl  Thomas  James  Mathias,  author 
of  a  satirical  poem,  The  Purstdts  of  Literature,  which 
created  some  stir  in  his  day,  and  also  editor  of  the 
works  of  the  Etonian  poet.  Gray. 

Joah  Bates  (1759),  afterwards  Fellow  of  King's,  was 
a  well-known  musician,  and  not  only  promoted,  but 
actually  conducted  the  Handel  Commemoration  Festival 
at  Westminster  Abbey  in  1784. 

Horace  Walpole,  writing  to  Sir  Horace  Mann  in 
October  1762,  says,  "  Your  nephew  Foote  has  made  a 
charming  figure ;  the  King  and  Queen  went  from  Windsor 
to  see  Eton ;  he  is  captain  of  the  oppidans,  and  made  a 
speech  to  them  with  great  applause.  It  was  in  English, 
which  is  right.  Why  should  we  talk  Latin  to  our  kings 
rather  than  Russ  or  Iroquois  ?  Is  this  a  season  for  being 
ashamed  of  our  country  ?  Dr.  Barnard,  the  Master,  is 
the  Pitt  of  masters,  and  has  raised  the  school  to  the  most 
flourishing  state  it  ever  knew." 

Provost  Sleech  died  in  1765,  and  Dr.  Barnard  was 
elected  to  fill  his  place,  continuing  to  exercise  in  that 
most  dignified  post  the  same  accomplished  and  humane 
talents  which  had  so  much  adorned  his  career  as  Head- 
master. The  high  position  which  Provost  Barnard  held 
in  intellectual  society  is  shown  by  the  anecdote  told  by 
Bennet  Langton  of  a  party  at  Mrs.  Vesey's,  where  "  the 
company  consisted  chiefly  of  ladies,  among  whom  were 
the  Duchess  Dowager  of  Portland,  the  Duchess  of  Beau- 
fort, whom  I  suppose  from  her  rank  I  must  name  before 
her  mother,  Mrs.  Boscawen,  and   her  eldest  sister,  Mrs. 


JOHN    FOSTER,    D.D. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  in  the  A  iidit  Room,  Eton  College. 


To /ace  p.  119. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     119 

Lewson,  who  was  likewise  there ;  Lady  Lucan,  Lady 
Clermont,  and  others  of  note  both  for  their  station  and 
understandings.  Among  the  gentlemen  were  Lord  Al- 
thorp,  .  .  .  Lord  Macartney,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Lord 
Lucan,  Mr.  Wraxall,  .  .  .  Dr.  WaiTen,  Mr.  l*epys,  the 
Master  in  Chancery,  .  ,  .  and  Dr.  Barnard,  the  Provost 
of  Eton.  As  soon  as  Dr.  Johnson  was  come  in  and  had 
taken  a  chair,  the  company  began  to  collect  round  him, 
till  they  became  not  less  than  four,  if  not  five  deep ;  those 
behind  standing  and  listening  over  the  heads  of  those 
that  were  sitting  near  him.  The  conversation  for  some 
time  was  chiefly  between  Dr.  Johnson  and  the  Provost  of 
Eton,  while  the  others  contributed  occasionally  their 
remarks.'"" 

When  Dr.  Barnard  died  in  December  1781,  Dr.  John- 
son is  said  to  have  remarked  that  "  he  was  the  only  man 
that  did  justice  to  my  good  breeding,  and  you  may  observe 
that  I  am  well-bred  to  a  needless  degree  of  scrupulosity." 
Such  a  compliment  from  the  Great  Cham  of  literature  was 
a  feather  in  the  cap  even  of  so  high  a  dignitary  as  the 
Provost  of  Eton.  As  Provost  Dr.  Barnard  was  a  genial 
host,  delighting  especially  in  the  society  of  men  of  worthy 
genius,  like  Foote  the  actor.  On  his  tomb  in  the  chapel 
it  is  stated  that  at  Eton  he  dt.sc/prnuDn  etjumam  nuxH 
et  stabilitavit. 

When  Dr.  Barnard  vacated  the  Head-mastership  there 
seemed  little  doubt  about  his  successor.  John  Foster 
(1748),  one  of  the  Assistant-masters,  was  so  much 
esteemed  for  his  high  character  and  sound  scholarship. 


120  ETON    COLLEGE 

that  he  seemed  marked  out  for  the  post.  The  best 
scholars  and  the  most  upright  and  high-minded  dis- 
ciplinarians are  not  always  the  most  successful  adminis- 
trators in  any  profession.  Dr.  Foster  was  a  conspicuous 
example.  He  failed  to  win  the  confidence  or  affection 
of  the  boys,  and  numerous  exhibitions  of  tactlessness 
and  temper  on  his  part  led  to  a  serious  rebellion  in 
the  school.  This  was  not  a  mere  outbreak  of  mutinous 
or  high-spirited  youth,  but  a  deliberate  and  organised 
resistance  of  the  head  boys  of  the  school  to  the  petty 
tyrannies  of  the  Head-master.  Failing  any  redress,  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  boys  left  the  school, 
and  marched  in  good  order  to  Maidenhead,  where 
they  remained  for  the  night.  The  next  day  they  re- 
turned to  Eton,  but  as  the  Head-master  still  remained 
obdurate,  the  boys,  with  but  few  exceptions,  returned 
home  to  their  surprised  and  indignant  parents.  Dr. 
Foster's  misdirected  system  of  discipline  had  after  this 
event  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  school,  for  during  the 
eight  years  of  his  rule  the  number  of  the  boys  steadily 
decreased.  In  1772  Dr.  Foster,  broken  in  health  and 
spirits,  gave  up  the  Head-mastership,  and  retired  to  the 
congenial  haven  of  a  canonry  at  Windsor,  where  he  died 
some  two  years  later.  He  was  succeeded  as  Head-master 
by  Jonathan  Davies  (1755),  a  pupil  and  protege  of  Dr. 
Barnard,  and  one  of  the  leading  Assistant-masters  in  the 
school.  Dr.  Davies  ruled  the  school  for  eighteen  years, 
but  as  far  as  his  personal  influence  was  concerned,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  school  was  slow  and  uneventful.     The  number 


ETON    IN   EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     121 

of  boys  continued  to  sink,  reaching  its  lowest  point  in 
1775,  when  there  were  only  246  boys  in  the  school.  If  the 
number  of  the  boys  was  diminished,  their  calibre  was,  if 
anything,  increased,  and  their  achievements  in  after  life 
are  among  the  brightest  treasures  of  Eton's  fame  and 
renown. 

The  most  conspicuous  of  Etonians  at  this  date  may 
be  said  to  have  been  George  Canning,  who,  as  an  Eton 
boy,  enjoyed  a  reputation  perhaps  unprecedented  since 
his  time.  In  after  life,  as  Canning  mounted  step  by  step 
the  ladder  of  his  great  parliamentary  career,  he  remained 
an  Etonian  at  heart,  constantly  revisited  the  school,  and 
at  the  zenith  of  his  life  declared  that  no  one  is  ever  so 
great  a  man  as  when  he  was  a  sixth-foi'm  boy  at  Eton. 

Hardly  second  to  Canning  in  parliamentary  re- 
nown was  Charles,  second  Earl  Grey,  the  future  Prime 
Minister,  although  he  was  at  heart  less  of  an  Etonian 
than  Canning.  Earl  Grey  was,  however,  at  Eton  and 
Cambridge  one  of  those  elegant  scholar-statesmen  whose 
classical  and  literary  exercises  his  contemporaries  were 
proud  to  record.  Among  the  names  most  treasured  in 
the  annals  of  Eton  is  that  of  another  scholar-statesman, 
Richard  Collcjj  Wellcslcy,  Marquess  of  WcUcsky,  scholar, 
})oet,  orator,  in  after  life  destined  to  fill  such  important 
posts  as  Governor-General  of  India  (in  succession  to 
another  Etonian,  Marquess  Cornwallis),  Commander-in- 
Chief  in  India,  Ambassador  to  Spain,  Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and 
Lord    Chamberlain.      After   all    these    high    distinctions 


122  ETON    COLLEGE 

and  at  the  close  of  his  long  life  and  eventful  career,  the 
Marquess  Wellesley  had  only  one  desire  remaining  to 
him,  that  his  body  should  be  buried  in  the  chapel  of 
his  beloved  Eton.  His  epitaph  he  composed  himself.  It 
has  become  almost  proverbial,  both  for  the  depth  of 
its  sentiment  and  the  beauty  of  its  Latinity.  For  both 
these  reasons  it  cannot  be  too  often  quoted,  and  every 
Eton  boy  should  know  it  by  heart : — 

Fortunae  rerumque  vagis  exercitus  iiudis, 

In  gremium  redeo  serus,  Etona,  tuum. 
Magna  sequi^  et  summse  niirari  culmina  famae, 

Et  purum  antiquae  lucis  adire  jubar. 
Auspice  te  didici  puer,  atque  in  limine  vitae 

Ingenuas  verae  laudis  amare  vias. 
Si  qua  nieum  vitae  decursu  gloria  nomen 

Auxerit,  aut  si  quis  uobilitarit  honos, 
Muneris,  Alma,  tui  est.     Altrix  da  terra  sepulchrum, 

Supremam  laclnymam  da  memoremque  mei. 

With  Wellesley  at  Eton  (Wesley  was  their  surname  then) 
was  his  world-renowned  younger  brother,  Arthur  Wellesley^ 
the  future  Duke  of  Wellingion.  At  Eton  the  future  victor 
of  Waterloo  and  Prime  Minister  of  England  made  but  little 
mark.  The  facts  of  his  having  cut  his  name  on  the  kitchen 
door  at  his  Dame's  and  of  his  having  vanquished  Robert 
Percy  (Bobus)  Smith  in  a  mill,  seem  to  compose  the  '  short 
and  simple  annals'  of  his  career  as  an  Eton  boy.  His 
tribute,  however,  in  later  life  to  Eton  and  its  playing-fields 
is  a  household  word  in  English  history.  Moreover,  in  the 
whole  history  of  Eton,  there  can  hardly  have  been  a 
more  moving   incident   than   when   the  great  Duke,   on 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     123 

revisiting  Eton  in  the  days  of  his  glory,  was  seized  by 
a  sudden  impulse  to  climb  upon  the  wall  and  run  along 
it,  oblivious  of  his  age  and  his  dignity,  but  for  once 
again  feeling  himself  an  Eton  boy. 

Among  noted  Eton  parliamentary  figures,  educated 
under  Dr.  Davies,  were  Gcorgr  Tierney^  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  successful  debaters  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  Samuel  Whitbi'ead,  the  earliest  representative 
of  the  mingling  of  piety  and  brewing,  which  has  since 
become  a  conspicuous  feature  in  English  society.  Henry 
R'tcluu-d  Fo.v,  afterwards  third  Lo)-d  Holland,  nephew  of 
Charles  James  Fox,  became  afterwards  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  members  of  the  Whig  party  in  Parliament, 
During  his  lifetime  and  that  of  his  wife,  Holland  House, 
his  residence  at  Kensington,  became  the  centre  of  politi- 
cal and  literary  society  in  London.  The  following  lines, 
written  by  himself  shortly  before  his  death  in  1840,  may 
be  commended  to  the  mind  of  any  Etonian  : — 

Nephew  of  Fox  and  friend  of  Grey, 

Enough  my  meed  of  fame 
If  those  who  deigned  to  observe  me  say 

I  injured  neither  name. 

The  political  fame  of  Edward  Smith  Stanley,  thirteenth 
Earl  of  Derby,  one  of  the  supporters  of  the  Whig  party 
under  Earl  Grey,  has  been  overshadowed  by  that  of  his 
more  famous  son.  The  thirteenth  earl  is  better  known 
for  his  great  interest  in  zoology,  and  as  president  for 
many  years  of  the  Linnean  Society  and  the  Zoological 
Society.     John   Hooklmm    Frcre   was    one    of  Canning's 


124  ETON    COLLEGE 

principal  friends  at  Eton  and  in  after  life.  He  joined 
with  Canning  at  Eton  in  producing  the  Microcosm, 
and  in  after  life  in  a  similar  enterprise  with  the  Anti- 
Jacobin,  After  a  short  but  distinguished  career  in 
politics  and  diplomacy,  Frere  devoted  himself  to  litera- 
ture, producing  among  other  works  his  unrivalled  trans- 
lations of  Aristophanes.  More  interesting  perhaps  to 
Etonians  was  his  Ode  on  yEthelstmis  Victory,  written  in 
early  English  verse,  while  still  a  boy  at  Eton,  like  an 
Eton  Chatterton,  of  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  said  that 
it  was  the  only  poem  he  had  met  with,  which,  if  it 
had  been  produced  as  ancient,  could  not  have  been  de- 
tected on  internal  evidence.  To  the  poet  Coleridge,  John 
Hookham  Frere  appeared  the  man,  who  most  eminently 
deserved  the  epithets  of  '  o  KaXoKayados  6  (/)tAoKuAos.' 

The  classical  reputation  of  Eton  at  this  date  was 
adorned  and  for  ever  increased  by  the  presence  in  the 
school  of  Richard  Porson,  the  great  Greek  scholar.  Porson 
became  a  Colleger  in  August  1774,  his  education  being 
supported  by  a  wealthy  friend.  At  Eton  he  showed 
little  signs  of  his  future  eminence  as  a  scholar.  Handi- 
capped by  his  humble  birth,  he  was  backward  in  his 
studies  when  he  came  to  Eton,  and  did  not  display  any 
abilities  above  the  average  until  he  went  to  Cambridge, 
where  he  was  placed  at  Trinity  College  owing  to  his 
not  being  of  standing  enough  to  get  an  Eton  scholarship 
at  King*'s.  At  Eton,  however,  his  natural  abilities  were 
so  strongly  marked,  that,  when  his  benefactor  died  in 
1777,  and  his  future  career  was  in  peril,  both  past  and 


^/:^7'Jf7/7y 


/. 
'/// 


RICHARD    POKSON. 
From  an  Engraving  in  the  "  European  Magazine." 


To  face  p.  124. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     125 

present  Etonians  contributed  to  a  fund  to  provide  for 
his  maintenance  at  the  University,  To  Eton,  therefore, 
the  '  great  Grecian  *"  owed  a  debt,  which  he  readily  recog- 
nised in  after  Hfe. 

One  of  the  great  names  in  English  literature  is  that 
of  Henry  Hallam.  His  father,  John  Hallam  (1747),  was 
a  scholar  of  Eton  and  King's,  highly  respected  among  his 
contemporaries  as  Canon  of  Windsor  and  Dean  of  Bristol. 
Hallam's  mother  was  sister  of  Dr.  Roberts,  afterwards 
Provost  of  Eton,  so  that  the  historian  may  be  said  to 
have  been  an  Etonian  in  his  cradle.  It  is  sufficient  to 
mention  Hallam's  histories  of  The  Middle  Ages  and  The 
Literature  of  FAirope  to  denote  his  position  in  the  hier- 
archy of  English  men  of  letters.  Robert  Perey  Smith, 
Wellington's  boyish  foe,  who  was  always  known  affec- 
tionately in  after  life  by  his  Eton  nickname  of  '  Bobus 
Smith,"  was  one  of  the  brilliant  friends  at  Eton  of 
Canning,  Hookham  Erere,  and  Lord  Holland,  Had  he 
not  had  Sydney  Smith  for  a  younger  brother  he  could 
have  ranked  among  the  wittiest,  most  original,  and  most 
correct  of  English  writers.  Another  man  of  letters, 
well  known  in  his  day,  if  somewhat  forgotten  now,  was 
produced  by  Eton  in  the  person  of  William  Smyth,  poet 
and  historian,  the  son  of  a  Liverpool  banker,  tutor  to 
Sheridan's  son,  antl  afterwards  Regius  Professor  of  Modern 
History  at  Cambridge,  where  his  lectures  on  jVIodern 
History  and  on  the  Erench  Revolution  were  nmch 
esteemed. 

Politics    and   literature  were  not  by  any  means  the 


126  ETON    COLLEGE 

only  fields  in  which  an  Etonian  could  gain  distinction. 
Charles  Shncon  (1778),  the  famous  evangelical  preacher  at 
Cambridge,  is  almost  as  remarkable  a  product  of  Eton 
as  his  contemporary,  Richard  Porson.  It  is  curious  to 
find  that  at  Eton  Simeon  was  noted  for  athletics  and  a 
love  of  dress.  Li  1776  a  day  of  fasting  and  penitence 
was  observed  at  Eton  on  account  of  the  disasters  to  the 
British  forces  in  America.  Such  an  event  could  weigh 
but  lightly  on  the  mind  of  an  ordinary  Eton  boy.  It 
has,  however,  been  recorded  by  Simeon  himself  that  this 
event  was  the  first  to  divert  his  mind  towards  religion. 
When  he  went  from  Eton  to  King's  he  was  destined 
to  exercise  an  influence  throughout  both  University  and 
town,  unparalleled,  it  may  be  said,  in  either  LTniversity, 
even  at  Oxford  in  the  days  of  Keble  and  Newman, 
for  Simeon's  work  was  of  a  missionary  nature  to  rich 
and  poor,  to  learned  and  unlearned  alike,  and  his  influ- 
ence is  abiding  even  to  the  present  day.  Thomas  Dampier 
(1766),  eldest  son  of  the  jovial  Lower-master,  climbed 
higher  on  the  ladder  of  the  church  than  his  father,  be- 
coming Dean  and  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and  later  of  Ely, 
and  also  known  as  a  bibliophile  of  importance.  His 
half-brother,  Sir  Henry  Dampkr  (1776),  pursued  the  for- 
tunes of  the  family  further  as  a  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  and 
a  distinguished  authority  on  ecclesiastical  law.  Another 
Eton  Colleger,  John  Luxmoorc  (1775),  a  west-country  boy, 
whose  name  has  been  continued  by  other  honoured  repre- 
sentatives to  the  present  day,  became  bishop  successively 
of  Bristol,  Hereford,  and  St.  Asaph.     Preferment  in  the 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     127 

cases  of  Dampier  and  Luxmoore,  well  deserved  as  it 
was  and  proved  to  be,  may,  however,  be  credited  to  the 
fact  of  their  good  fortune  in  being  selected  as  tutors  to 
the  sons  of  important  and  influential  noblemen.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  at  the  date  in  question,  preferment  in 
any  profession  of  life  was  most  easily  obtained  by  the 
favour  and  patronage  of  royalty  or  nobility,  the  days  for 
the  recognition  of  individual  merit  having  hardly  as  yet 
dawned. 

It  was  during  the  Head -mastership  of  Dr.  Davies 
that  the  king,  George  III.,  began  to  evince  that  interest 
in  Eton  which  was  shown  in  so  many  ways,  until  the  un- 
fortunate event  of  the  king's  insanity.  It  is  a  curious 
coincidence,  that  the  two  kings  of  England,  to  whom 
Eton  was  cherished,  and  who  are  commemorated  by 
Etonians  as  it  were  among  the  patron  saints  of  the 
College,  Henry  VI.  and  George  III.,  should  both  have 
shared  the  same  sad  fate  at  the  close  of  their  lives.  The 
king  and  queen  had  visited  Eton  in  1762  shortly  after 
their  marriage  and  been  nmch  gratified  by  their  recep- 
tion. In  1778  they  attended  speeches  in  Upper  School, 
when  Lord  Wellesley  drew  tears  from  the  royal  eyes  by 
his  recital  of  Strafford's  last  speech. 

Provost  Barnard  died  in  1781.  He  was  succeeded  by 
a  former  Assistant-master  and  Fellow,  William  Hnyward 
Roberts  (1752),  one  of  the  fat  and  gouty  divines  whose 
fondness  for  port  and  cheerful  company  were  so  mercilessly 
caricatured  by  Gillray  and  Rowlandson.  A  Gloucester- 
shire man,  he  was  nicknamed  '  Double  Gloucester '  from  his 


128  ETON    COLLEGE 

resemblance  in  shape  to  the  cheese  of  that  name.  Provost 
Roberts  in  more  ways  than  one  filled  the  post  genially 
and  urbanely  for  ten  years.  Cole,  the  antiquary,  says  that 
he  was  "a  portly  man  and  of  much  pride  and  state,  and 
was  used  to  have  routs,  as  they  were  called,  in  the  College 
apartments  for  card-playing,  which  filled  the  College  court 
with  carriages  and  tumults,  not  much  to  the  edification  of 
a  place  of  education.""  Perhaps  this  is  the  reason  for  the 
severe  discouragement  in  after  days  of  the  innocent  whist- 
parties,  which  the  Eton  boy  must  now  enjoy  under  a 
sword  of  Damocles,  and  certainly  without  carnages  or 
tumults,  like  this  revered  Provost. 

Provost  Roberts  terminated  his  cheery  regime  in 
1791,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Head-master,  Dr.  Davies, 
who  did  his  best  to  maintain  the  reputation  of  the 
Provost's  table.  Provost  Davies  was  a  not  unfamiliar 
figure  in  the  salons  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  His  loud 
voice  and  love  of  London  brought  him  under  the  lash 
of  the  Etonian  satirist,  Mathias,  together  with  the  Lower- 
master,  Z>r.  William  Laiwgford  (1762),  who  combined  this 
post  with  that  of  Canon  of  Windsor  and  chaplain  to  the 
king,  although  both  the  latter  posts  at  times  involved 
duties  and  residence  in  Windsor  Castle. 

Dr.  Davies  was  succeeded  as  Head-master  in  1792  by 
George  Heath  (1768),  one  of  the  Assistant-masters,  who 
held  the  post  for  nine  years.  Dr.  Heath  was  a  man  of 
little  importance,  and  the  school  under  his  management 
failed  to  recover  the  position,  in  point  of  numbers,  to  which 
it  had  attained  under  Dr.  Barnard.     The  quality,  however, 


GEORflK    HEATH,     D.I). 
From  the  Oil  P<iinting  by  J.  HoJ>/>ner,  JR. A.,  in  the  Audit  Room,  Eton  College. 


To /ace  p.  128. 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     129 

of  the  boys  at  the  school  remained  as  high,  and  the  alumni 
during  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  were 
in  many  cases  destined  to  play  a  large  part  in  the  history 
of  their  country.  Otherwise  the  period  of  Dr.  Heath's 
administration  calls  for  but  little  comment.  Under  him 
were  trained  a  future  Prime  Minister  in  William  Lamb, 
second  Viscount  Melbourne,  a  future  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  in  Charles  Manners  Sutton,  a  future  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  in  John  Bird  Stimner  (1798),  a 
future  Governor-General  of  India  in  George  Eden,  Earl  of' 
Aucldaml,  and  of  Canada  in  Charles,  Lord  Metcalfe.  Three 
of  the  most  noted  diplomatists  were  also  at  Eton  under 
Dr.  Heath,  Stratford  Canning  (1805),  afterwards  Lord 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  a  scholar  on  the  Foundation,  re- 
nowned afterwards  as  'the  great  Elchi'  at  Constantinople, 
Charles  Stuart,  Lord  Stuart  de  Rothesay,  and  William 
A'Court,  Lord  Heytesbury.  In  the  profession  of  the  law 
were  Thomas,  Lord  Dcnman,  the  famous  judge,  *SV/-  Chris- 
toplwr  Puller,  Sir  Lancelot  Shadicell,  Steplwn  Lushingtoti, 
William  Frere,  younger  brother  of  John  Hookham  Frere, 
Master  of  Downing  College,  Cambridge,  and  William 
Sehvyn,  the  first  of  a  race  of  Eton  heroes.  With  the 
army  are  connected  the  names  of  Sir  Patrick  Stuart,  Sir 
Horatio  Townshend,  a  member  of  another  Eton  clan. 
Lord  George  Beresfbrd,  and  Sir  John  Fox  Burgoync. 
Even  in  the  navy  we  find  the  names  of  Sir  George  Mundy 
and  of  Edzvard  Haioke  Locker,  afterwards  Connnissioner 
of  Greenwich  Hospital.     To  literature  belongs   William 

Stewart  Rose,  the  translator  of  Ariosto. 

I 


130  ETON    COLLEGE 

It  was  the  age  of  dandies  and  wits,  and  it  may  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  feathers  in  the  cap  of  Dr.  Heath  that 
he  bred  up  no  less  a  personage  than   George  Brummell, 
the  famous  '  Beau,'  and  not  only  him,  but   Thomas  Raikes 
as  well,  a  City  merchant  as  well  as  dandy,  dubbed  '  Apollo ' 
by  his  friends,  since  'he  rose  in  the  east  and  set  in  the 
west,''  the  forerunner  of  the  dandies  of  the  present  day, 
who  are  understood  to  be  '  something  in  the  City.''    Three 
Etonians   gained    some    notoriety   from    their   friendship 
with  Lord  Byron,  two  of  them  oddly  enough  Collegers, 
Francis  Hodgson  (1799),  to  be  mentioned  later  as  Provost, 
and  Scrope  Be?-dmore  Davies  (1801),  scholar  and  FelloAv  of 
King''s  and  one  of  the  cleverest  men  of  his  time,  but  more 
notorious  as  a  dandy  and  a  gambler  in  after  life,  than 
as  a  scholar.     Charles  Skinner  Matthexcs,  Matthew^s  major, 
scholar  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  ninth  wrangler 
in  1805,  was  one  of  Byron's  principal  friends  at  Cambridge, 
and  a  partner  in  the  famous  frolic  at  Newstead  Abbey, 
when  the  party  dressed  up  as  monks  and  quaffed  burgundy 
from  a  human   skull ;    he   was  drowned   in   the   Cam   in 
1811.     His   younger   brother,    Henry   Matthexcs   (1807), 
Matthews  minor,  was  afterwards  better  known  as  the  author 
of  a  Diary  of  an  Invalid  in  Portugal,  Italy,  Sxcitzerland, 
and  France,  and  for  his  work  as  judge  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Ceylon.     Henry  Warhurton  was  one  of  the  best-known 
figures  in  Parliament  during  his  day.    Sir  Thomas  Charles 
Morgan  became  a  fashionable  lady's  doctor,  and  the  hus- 
band of  Sydney  Owenson, '  the  wild  Irish  girl.'     Richmond 
Makepeace   Thackeray,  one  of  a  family  much  connected 


ETON    IN    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY     131 

with  Eton,  gained  renown  from  his  famous  son,  WilHam 
Makepeace  Thackeray,  the  novelist.  Joseph  Planta,  son 
of  the  principal  librarian  of  the  British  Museum,  became 
a  diplomatist  and  privy  councillor.  Coming  events  in 
the  educational  history  of  Eton  cast  their  shadows  before- 
hand in  the  presence  as  boys  in  the  school  of  John  Keate 
(1791),  Thomas  Carter  (1794-),  George  Bethell  (1797), 
John  Franeis  Plumptre  (1799),  Henry  Joseph  Thomas 
Drury  (1796),  and  Edzaard  Craven  Hawtrey  (1807). 

In  reality  Eton  made  but  little  progress  under  the 
rule  of  Dr.  Heath  as  Head-master,  and  Dr.  Davies  as 
Provost.  The  numbers  of  the  school  rose  but  slowly, 
and  the  average  of  scholarship  fell  below  that  of  a  score 
or  so  of  years  before.  The  taint  of  a  corrupt  and  de- 
bauched aristocracy  hung  over  the  fashionable  world,  and 
it  speaks  well  for  Eton  and  its  administrators  that,  on  the 
whole,  they  came  so  well  through  a  time,  when  both 
private  and  public  life  presented  an  evil  example,  which 
was  only  too  likely  to  be  contagious. 


VI 

BUILDINGS,   SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC. 

In  a  previous  chapter  it  has  been  recorded  how  Provost 
Allestree  about  1670  built  a  new  schoolroom  on  the  west 
side  of  the  outward  court  of  the  College  at  his  own  ex- 
pense. This  school  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  L^pper 
School.  Previous  to  this  a  wall  of  red  brick  had  extended 
from  Long  Chamber  to  the  chapel  with  a  gate  in  the 
middle.  This  wall  is  shown  in  the  small  view  of  the 
College,  depicted  on  the  monument  of  Sir  Henry  Savile 
at  Merton  College,  Oxford.  Allestree''s  new  school  con- 
sisted of  a  one-storeyed  building,  with  a  double  row  of 
windows  on  the  western  or  outer  side,  in  addition  to  an 
archway  through  the  centre.  On  the  eastern  side  towards 
the  schoolyard  there  was  an  ambulatory  below  the  eastern 
half  of  the  buildings,  the  upper  storey  being  supported 
by  slender  columns.  A  view  of  this  side  is  shown  in  a 
view  of  the  College,  engraved  by  Wenceslaus  Hollar  in 
1672,  while  the  outer  side  towards  the  street  is  shown  in  the 
bird's-eye  view  of  the  College,  engraved  by  David  Loggan 
in  1688.  The  construction  of  this  building  proved, 
however,  defective,  and  the  whole  building  had  to  be 
taken  down  and  rebuilt  in  168^.  The  present  '  Upper 
School  "■  was  then  erected  and  finished  in  January  1691, 

132 


UPPER    SCHOOL    AND    THE    LONG    WALK,     FROM 
THE   SOUTH. 

From  a  Dra-wing  by  Philip  Norman. 


To/ace  J>.  133. 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC.     133 

the  upper  storey  being  supported  upon  massive  piers, 
instead  of  the  slender  coknnns  in  the  previous  building. 
It  has  been  recorded  that  the  payments  for  the  restoration 
passed  through  the  hands  of  John  HawtrcTj  (1661),  then  a 
Fellow  of  Eton,  and  great-grandfather  of  the  future  Head- 
master and  Provost.  David  Loggan  was  an  engraver,  who 
excelled  especially  in  his  bird's-eye  view  of  college  build- 
ings, a  style  of  topographical  engraving  which  he  brought 
from  the  Netherlands.  To  him  we  owe  much  knowledge  of 
the  appearance  of  the  colleges  at  the  two  Universities  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  is  interesting  to  see  in  his  view  of 
Eton  College,  what  the  buildings  were  which  existed  about 
1688.  In  front  of  Allestree''s  new  school  ran  what  was 
for  long  known  as  '  The  Long  Walk,'  planted  with  trees, 
and  bounded  towards  the  road  by  the  familiar  low  wall, 
with  its  white  coping.  On  the  left  of  this  wall  towards  the 
north,  there  was  at  one  time  a  low  building  used  as  the 
Provost's  stables,  which  remained  there  until  1722,  when 
they  were  removed  to  a  more  suitable  spot  adjoining  the 
Provosfs  garden.  The  wall  was  then  completed  up  to  the 
arch,  which  led  from  the  Slough  road  into  the  ])laying- 
fields.  The  present  coping  seems  to  date  from  1753,  and 
the  lime  trees  appear  to  be  of  the  same  age. 

Taking  Loggan's  view  as  a  guide,  there  are  seen  abut- 
ting upon  the  Slough  road  the  range  of  low  picturesque 
houses,  which  were  erected  in  1603-4<  under  Sir  Henry 
Savile.  This  range  of  buildings  was  used  for  various  pur- 
poses. Some  of  the  Commensales  were  lodged  here,  and 
also  some  of  the  under  officials  of  the  College.     Savile\s 


134  ETON    COLLEGE 

printing-press  was  also  set  up  here,  and  from  the  building 
accounts  it  would  appear  that  some  portion  was  used  as  a 
granary.  Behind  this  building  was  the  stable-yard, 
known  in  later  days  as  Weston's  Yard,  from  Dr.  Stephen 
Weston,  first  Usher  and  then  Fellow  of  Eton,  and  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Exeter.  It  is  not  quite  clear  why  his 
jiame  was  given  to  the  yard.  Passing  into  the  school-yard, 
it  appears  in  Loggan's  view  to  have  been  covered  with  turf 
with  intersecting  paths,  like  a  quadrangle  at  one  of  the 
Universities.  It  remained  so  until  1706,  when  it  was  paved. 
Provost  Godolphin  in  1719  presented  the  bronze  statue  of 
the  Founder,  King  Henry  VI.,  by  Francis  Bird,  which  is 
so  conspicuous  a  feature  at  the  present  day.  In  Loggan's 
view  Lupton's  Tower  appears  without  the  wooden  turrets, 
and  without  the  clock.  The  great  clock  was  for  many 
years  placed  against  the  easternmost  bay  of  the  chapel, 
and  it  was  not  until  1765  that  it  was  removed  to  its  pre- 
sent situation  in  Lupton''s  Tower,  when  a  pair  of  wooden 
turrets  were  added  to  receive  its  bells. 

Loggan  shows  in  the  inner  quadrangle  the  buildings 
much  as  they  were  left  when  completed  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  He  shows  the  one-storeyed  building 
with  the  gallery  running  round  the  north-east  and  south 
sides,  the  southern  side  abutting  on  the  hall,  and  with  an 
arched  cloister  underneath  the  gallery.  The  iron  railings 
enclosing  the  central  court  were  erected  in  1724-5.  In 
1759,  chiefly  owing  to  the  want  of  accommodation  for  the 
Fellows  and  other  persons  lodged  in  the  College,  and  partly 
owing  to  an  opportunity  afforded  by  the  need  of  extensive 


7(>  face  /.  1 34. 


r  I'lU  I  F<:ir\i  U  rci '.K ?.- KTO'.vA .ntiit/'t  Vinson 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     135 

repairs  to  the  roof,  it  was  decided  to  erect  an  attic  storey 
over  the  north  and  east  sides  of  the  cloister.  The  towers 
at  the  angles  of  the  quadrangle  were  raised,  and  the 
general  proportions  observed  with  great  care.  The 
appearance  of  the  buildings  was  considerably  enhanced  by 
this  elevation,  especially  when  seen  from  the  river  side. 
The  introduction  of  sash  windows,  however,  took  some- 
thins  off  the  architectural  effect. 

In  1720  the  Provost  and  Fellows  determined  to  build 
a  new  library.  The  books  belonging  to  the  College  had 
at  first  been  placed  in  the  vestry  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Collegiate  Church,  a  very  common  position  for  Church 
libraries  at  that  date.  When  Lupton's  building  was 
completed,  the  books  were  removed  to  one  of  the  rooms, 
probably  Election  Hall.  Under  Sir  Henry  Savile  they 
were  removed  to  a  small  room  on  the  ground  floor,  under 
Long  Chamber,  at  the  eastern  end  near  the  Usher"*s  apart- 
ment, afterwards  known  as  I^ower  -  master's  Chamber. 
They  were  again  removed  in  1675-6  to  a  room  made  for 
the  purpose  in  the  southern  side  of  the  gallery. 

When  the  question  of  a  new  library  was  mooted 
in  1720,  the  first  intention  was  to  build  an  octagonal 
building  at  the  east  end  of  the  chapel,  with  a  dome 
something  like  the  Radcliffe  '  Camera '  at  Oxford,  to  be 
entered  from  a  cloister  uniting  the  chapel  with  the 
Fellows'  building  at  its  south-westeni  angle.  This  idea 
was  however  abandoned,  and  in  1725  the  present  College 
library  was  built  on  the  southern  side  of  the  cloister, 
parallel    to  and   abutting   on   the    Hall.     For  some   un- 


136  ETON    COLLEGE 

explained  reason  no  attempt  was  made  to  preserve  the 
symmetry  of  the  external  style  to  that  of  the  buildings 
connected  with  it.  Internally  the  College  library  is  a 
fine  and  dignified  room.  The  collection  of  books  was 
probably  in  early  days  rich  in  missals  and  books  of 
devotion,  but  it  was  thoroughly  purged  of  all  such  heresy 
under  the  pious  ordinances  of  Edward  VI.  and  the  Duke 
of  Somerset.  Sir  Henry  Savile  found  it  in  a  sadly 
neglected  condition,  set  it  up  and  rearranged  it,  and 
had  very  considerable  additions  made  to  it.  When  the 
library  was  removed  to  its  present  situation,  many  con- 
tributions and  additions  of  books  poured  in.  In  1730, 
upon  the  death  of  Richard  Topham,  a  well-known  anti- 
quary, his  library  and  a  valuable  collection  of  archaeo- 
logical drawings  were  presented  by  his  executors  to  the 
College. 

In  1799  Anthony  Morris  Storer,  who  had  been  at 
Eton  with  Charles  James  Fox,  the  fifth  Earl  of  Carlisle, 
and  others,  and  who  had  succumbed  to  a  craze,  then 
popular,  for  collecting  rare  books  and  prints,  died  and 
left  to  the  library  of  Eton  College  his  books  and  col- 
lection of  prints.  The  books  included  three  from  the 
press  of  Caxton,  besides  other  rarities,  while  among  the 
prints  were  a  valuable  series  of  mezzotint  engravings 
after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  and  a  copy  of  Granger's 
Biographical  History  of  England^  interleaved  and  illus- 
trated in  many  large  volumes.  Bishop  Waddington 
bestowed  a  large  mass  of  theological  literature  to  fill  the 
shelves.     Among  other  rarities  and  objects  of  interest  to 


"^ 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC.     137 

be  seen  in  the  College,  in  addition  to  the  charters  and 
other  books  and  documents  relating  to  the  history  of  the 
College  and  its  valuable  manuscripts,  are  a  'Mazarin"'  Bible, 
the  first  book  printed  by  Gutenberg  &  Fust  at  Mayence 
about  1455 ;  Erasmus's  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament 
(the  first  published) ;  Archbishop  Parker's  History  of  the 
British  Church ;  a  first  folio  Shakespeare,  and  the  only 
known  copy  of  Udall's  Ralph  Roister  Doister. 

The  library  has  been  frequently  visited  by  eminent 
strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  1842  it  was 
visited  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  presented  to  it  one 
of  the  only  two  copies  of  the  Nihelungen-Lied,  printed 
on  vellum,  which  had  been  specially  issued  in  honour  of 
the  fourth  centenary  of  the  invention  of  printing.  King 
Louis  Philippe  of  France  visited  the  library  in  1844,  on 
which  occasion  he  was  accompanied  by  Queen  Victoria 
and  the  Prince  Consort.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  Avas 
a  visitor  in  the  summer  of  1891. 

The  College  Hall  remained  much  in  the  same  con- 
dition from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth.  It  had  been  panelled  along 
the  north  and  south  sides  in  1547,  by  which  the  fine 
old  original  fire-places  were  entirely  concealed.  The 
screen  and  gallery  was  of  earlier  erection  still.  The 
most  conspicuous  alteration  lay  in  the  erection  of  the 
flight  of  stone  steps  leading  into  the  ambulatorv  of  the 
cloister,  which  were  completed  in  1690. 

Little  or  no  alteration  was  made  in  the  accommoila- 
tion  for  the  masters  and  scholars  in  Colleo'e.     As  late  as 


138  ETON    COLLEGE 

16G1  the  old  statute  is  recapitulated  that  "  all  the  King's 
Schollers  and  Choristers  shall  ly  in  the  Long  Chamber, 
that  the  Scholeniaster  and  Usher  shall  lodge  in  their 
Chambers  at  the  ends  of  the  Long  Chamber  to  prevent 
disorders  which  may  otherwise  happen  in  the  said 
Chamber." 

The  chapel,  however,  underwent  various  alterations 
and  so-called  embellishments  from  time  to  time.  Thomas 
Weaver,  Fellow  of  Eton  from  1612  to  1650,  and  Vice- 
Provost,  carried  out  at  his  own  expense  a  number  of 
additions  and  alterations  to  the  internal  fittino-s  of  the 
chapel.  In  a  contemporary  note  of  the  work  done 
(1625),  it  is  stated  that,  among  other  gifts,  "  He  sett  up 
Seates  for  y®  oppidalls,  and  the  gi-eat  Pew  under  y^ 
Pulpitt  for  the  use  of  y®  Fellowes,  Scholm^  and  their 
Families  ;  He  gave  fowre  strong  formes  to  stand  in  y^ 
lies  of  y^  Church  for  the  Townemen  to  sitt  on ;  He 
gave  two  deskes  graven  w^^  y^  Coll.  amies  for  y®  Fellowes 
to  read  Prayers ;  He  adorned  the  deskes  for  y^  Clerks ; 
He  translated  y®  Vestrie,  built  y®  Portall ;  He  repayred 
y*'  seat  in  D""-  Lupton's  Chappell  and  sett  up  a  presse 
ther  to  laye  up  y®  Songe  books ;  He  repared  y®  Seates 
and  pewes  on  y^  North  and  South  sides  of  y®  Church ; 
besides  diverse  other  things ;  The  Colledg  alowed  him 
towards  y^  work  six  Loads  of  rough  Tymber."  All 
Weaver's  wood-work  has,  however,  now  disappeared  and 
been  reformed  away  into  dust  and  oblivion  by  his  pre- 
sumably more  intelligent  successors.  One  item,  how- 
ever, remains  in  the  '  translated '  vestry  and   the  portal 


LUPTON    S     TOWKR     AND     THE     CHAIMCI., 
From  a  Photogra/^h  by  Thomas  Carter. 


Tojacc  p.  138. 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     139 

on  the  north  side.  From  this  portal  steps  led  down 
to  the  schoolyard.  These  steps  were  rebuilt  in  1694-5, 
and  proved,  as  will  be  recoinited  in  a  later  chapter,  an 
important  and  indispensable  factor  in  the  history  of  one 
of  the  principal  Eton  games. 

In  1698  and  1699  the  exterior  of  the  chapel  was 
repaired,  and  the  inside  entirely  rearranged.  A  'new, 
strong,  and  very  handsome  roof  was  provided,  of  wood, 
for  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  design  at 
any  time  of  making  the  perpendicular  buttresses  support 
a  stone  roof,  as  in  the  chapel  of  King's  College,  Cam- 
bridge. The  Provost  and  Fellows  issued  an  appeal  to 
old  Etonians  and  others  to  help  in  the  '  Enlarging  and 
Beautyfying '  the  choir  of  the  College  chapel.  They 
state  that,  considering  "  that  it  conduceth  highly  to  the 
Honour  of  God  and  the  benefit  of  Religion,  that  the 
Publick  worship  of  God  should  be  performed  with  as 
much  decency  as  possible  where  so  great  a  mnnber  of 
Children,  both  of  the  Nobility  and  Gentry,  have  their 
Education,"  they  intended  to  proceed  to  the  'Beauty- 
fying  and  Enlarging  the  Choir,'  "  that  so  all  the  Children 
of  the  Schole  may  appear  under  one  View ;  and  likewise 
that  they,  and  all  the  people  of  the  Parish,  may  be  so 
conveniently  seated,  as  to  hear  with  ease  all  the  publick 
offices  of  the  Church,  which  at  present,  by  reason  of  their 
number,  and  the  ill  disposition  of  the  place,  they  cannot 
possibly  do."  The  money  was  raised  by  subscription 
among  the  Fellows,  Masters,  and  old  Etonians,  the  Provost, 
Godolphin,  subscribing  himself  one  thousand  pounds. 


140  ETON    COLLEGE 

In  restorations  of  this  kind  posterity  has  often  reason 
to  regret  that  the  plans  of  a  restorer  should  involve  the 
complete  effacenient  of  previous  work.  In  Eton  Chapel 
everything  was  swept  away,  even  Weaver"'s  gifts  of  wood- 
work, in  order  to  make  way  for  a  complete  design  in  the 
classical  panelling,  which  had  then  come  into  fashion. 
The  side  walls  were  panelled  right  up  to  the  east  end, 
even  the  entrance  to  Lupton's  chapel  being  sacrificed  and 
concealed  in  order  not  to  interfere  with  the  design.  A 
lofty  haldaccMno  was  erected  over  the  altar,  and  an  organ 
loft  in  the  same  classical  style  was  erected  across  the 
chapel  towards  the  west  end,  though  not  innnediately 
under  the  chancel  arch.  The  roof  was  divided  off  into 
panels,  and  painted  to  look  like  stone.  The  general 
effect,  judging  from  the  drawing  of  F.  Mackenzie,  re- 
produced in  Ackermann's  Eton,  must  have  been  hand- 
some and  dignified.  A  similar  style  of  internal  decoration 
can  still  be  seen  in  the  chapel  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, which  was  carried  out  a  few  years  later  than  the 
work  in  Eton  Chapel  under  the  mastership  of  the  great 
Dr.  Bentley.  The  tradition  that  the  designs  of  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  were  used  in  Eton  Chapel,  though 
not  established  by  any  record,  becomes  not  incredible, 
supposing  that  the  Mr.  Banks,  under  whom  the  internal 
decorations  of  Wren's  great  library  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  were  can-ied  out  in  1686-87,  is  the  same  as 
the  '  Mr.  Banks,  surveyor,'  who  designed  the  internal 
decoration  of  Eton  Chapel  some  twelve  years  later,  and 
probably   identical    with    the    '  Matthew  Bankes,  master 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     141 

carpenter,'  who  was  so  largely  concerned  in  the  decoration 
of  Sir  Christopher  Wren's  work  at  Kensington  Palace, 
Hampton  Court,  and  other  places. 

The  ante-chapel  was  '  repaired  and  beautified '  in 
1769,  chiefly  with  stucco-work.  The  full-length  marble 
statue  of  the  founder,  executed  by  John  Bacon,  R.A.,  was 
presented  in  1799  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Betham,  Fellow 
of  the  College. 

The  internal  arrangement  of  the  chapel  remained  in 
the  same  condition  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  As 
it  still  remained  the  parish  church  of  Eton,  seats  had  to 
be  provided  for  many  of  the  parishioners.  Large  pews 
were  also  set  apart  for  the  servants  of  the  College.  The 
sons  of  noblemen,  according  to  old  College  fashions,  and 
the  Sixth  Form  occupied  special  seats,  raised  above  the 
others. 

In  spite  of  the  ingrained  conservatism  of  Eton  College, 
the  daily  work  and  discipline  of  the  school  had  under- 
gone several  gradual  changes,  inevitable  with  the  march 
of  time,  since  the  days  of  William  Malim.  One  of  the 
most  important  of  these  changes  was  the  introduction 
on  to  the  staff  of  permanent  Assistant-masters,  and  the 
gradual  development  of  the  tutorial  system,  which  before 
long  became  one  of  the  principal  features  of  the  educa- 
tional system  at  Eton.  In  1718,  under  Dr.  Snape,  the 
names  of  nine  Assistant-masters  are  given  in  a  manuscript 
list  or  bill  of  the  school,  but  the  name  of  '  Mr.  Antrobus' 
occurs  three  times  in  the  list.  Under  Dr.  George,  there 
were    in    addition    to    the    Lower- master   six    Assistant- 


142  ETON    COLLEGE 

masters,  three  in  the  Upper  School,  and  three  in  the 
Lower  School.  This  number  remained  the  same  under 
Dr.  Cooke,  but  was  increased  by  two  in  1755,  and  again 
by  two  in  1760.  The  boarding-houses  seem  to  have 
been  still  kept  by  Dames  or  Dominies,  some  of  the  latter 
being  employed  as  private  tutors  or  extra-masters  in  the 
school.  The  working-days  in  the  week  were  divided 
as  they  are  now,  there  being  three  regular  working-days. 
Instead,  however,  of  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday 
being  half-holidays  as  at  the  present  day,  Tuesday  was 
a  whole  holiday ;  on  Thursday  a  half-holiday  was  granted 
by  the  Provost,  provided  that  some  boy  had  done  a  copy 
of  verses  good  enough  to  be  copied  out  on  gilt-edged 
paper  and  presented  to  the  Provost  by  noon  on  that  day, 
when  that  boy  was  said  to  have  been  '  sent  up  for  play.*" 
On  Saturday  (and  on  Thursday,  if  no  boy  was  sent  up 
for  play),  there  was  a  '  play-at-four,'  when  the  first  after- 
noon lesson  was  followed  by  chapel  or  prayers  in  school, 
and  the  boys  were  then  free  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  The 
actual  work  of  tuition  now  began  to  be  shared  by  the 
Assistant-masters  in  their  tutorial  capacity  out  of  school, 
resulting  in  a  considerable  relaxation  of  the  actual  num- 
ber of  hours  spent  during  the  week  in  the  schoolroom. 
The  increase  in  the  number  of  the  boys  must  have  made 
it  difficult  even  at  that  date  to  convey  instruction  to  so 
many  boys  en  masse  with  the  limited  staff  and  accommo- 
dation of  the  existing  schoolrooms. 

Saints'   days,    or   red-letter   days,    were    observed    as 
whole   holidays,  and    their  vigils    as   half-holidays,  and. 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     143 

what  with  anniversaries  and  court  festivities,  in  many 
of  which  Eton  shared,  the  Provost  and  Head-master  must 
have  found  it  sometimes  difficult  to  ensure  a  regular 
routine  of  work.  There  were  now  three  regular  vacations 
in  the  year,  one  month's  holidays  at  Christmas,  beginning 
the  second  Monday  in  December,  a  fortnight  at  Easter 
from  the  Monday  before  Piaster  Sunday,  and  one  month 
beginning  the  first  Monday  in  August,  at  what  was  then 
known  as  Bartlemetide. 

Greek    had    now  become   an    important   item   in   the 
curriculum  of  the  upper  forms,  and,  if  the  selection  from 
the  great  writers  seems  a  limited  one,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  editions  of  the  Greek  classics  were  few  and 
far  between,  and  that  the  selections  used  in  school,  were 
for  the  most  part  prepared  for  the  j)urpose  of  actual  use 
in  teaching,   rather   than  for  the   sake  of  their  literary 
value  or  for  the  display  of  learned  or  ornate  scholarship. 
Homer,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Terence  remained  the  classi- 
cal authors  who  were  chiefly  read  in  coctcn.so^  Lucian  and 
Ovid  in  selections.     For  most  of  the  other  great  classical 
writers  recourse  was  had  to  the  selections  in  the  Poetcs 
Grceci,  or  Scriptorcs  Rornani.     In  1758,  on  the  publica- 
tion of  Dr.  John   Burton's  Pcntalnff'in,  the   Upper  boys 
were  introduced  to  a  Greek   play  in   its  complete  form. 
Of  the  seventeen  school-hours  which  the   Upper  forms 
attended  during  the  week,  seven  were  devoted  to  repeti- 
tion and    ten    to    construing.     The    boys    in    fifth    form 
had  to  compose  three  Latin  exercises  during  the  week, 
two  in  verse,  elegiac  and  lyric,  and  one  in  prose.      The 


144  ETON    COLLEGE 

sixth  form  varied  the  lyrics  with  Greek  iambics.  The 
curriculum  for  the  Remove  was  on  a  slightly  lower  plane 
and  included  Greek  grammar  and  geography,  the  latter 
involving  the  drawing  of  a  map  out  of  school  in  addition 
to  their  other  exercises.  The  fourth  form  had  longer 
school  hours,  if  easier  authors  to  construe,  such  as  ^Esop 
and  Caesar,  while  in  the  Lower  School  the  work  was 
confined  to  easy  and  elementary  instruction  in  grammar 
and  in  Latin.  The  writing  lessons,  which  figure  in 
Malim's  Consiiehidinarium,  were  still  kept  up  on  holidays 
and  half-holidays,  but  in  addition  to  writing  lessons, 
which  were  mainly  confined  to  the  younger  boys,  part 
of  these  hours  were  spent  in  the  study  of  mathematics. 
To  become  'compleat  scholars,'  the  elder  boys  were 
supposed  to  get  through  a  considerable  course  of  reading 
in  history  and  literature  during  their  leisure  hours. 
'Trials'  were  customary  when  boys  were  removed  from 
one  form  to  another,  both  as  a  test  of  industry  and 
capacity,  and  as  a  means  of  stirring  up  a  feeling  of  emu- 
lation among  the  boys.  Dancing  and  fencing  each  had  a 
representative  on  the  staff. 

This  system  of  education,  elastic  rather  than  lax,  for 
it  could  be  rendered  more  strict  at  any  time,  remained  in 
force  with  but  little  variation  until  some  fifty  years  ago. 
Other  regulations,  such  as  those  for  the  Praepostors,  who 
checked  the  attendance  of  boys  in  school  and  chapel, 
fetched  their  excuses  if  '  staying  out '  from  their  Dames, 
or  in  Sixth  Form  presided  at  the  execution  of  the  boys 
sentenced  to  be  flogged,  remain  much  the  same  to  the 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     145 

present  day.  In  the  days  of  the  huge  divisions  of  boys 
in  Upper  or  Lower  School,  it  was  necessary  to  have  a 
Praepostor  in  school  to  walk  about  and  keep  the  boys 
quiet.  College  had  its  own  system  of  discipline  and  hours 
for  meals,  prayers,  and  lock-up.  Of  the  life  and  dis- 
cipline in  the  boarding-houses,  it  is  difficult  to  say  much, 
for  the  arrangements  were  of  a  private  nature  between 
the  parents  and  the  Dame  or  Dominie  who  kept  the  house, 
and  the  College  authorities  did  not  interfere,  except  in 
the  case  of  some  breach  of  the  regular  school  discipline. 
'  Absence '  was  called  on  half-holidays  at  two  in  the  after- 
noon, on  whole  holidays  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
In  the  summer  'absence''  was  called  at  six  in  the  even- 
ing, except  on  whole  school-days.  The  oppidans  were 
locked  up  in  their  boarding-houses  at  six  in  the  winter, 
and  the  Collegers  after  prayers  in  Lower  School  at  eight, 
though  in  their  case  '  lock-up '  was  practically  an  hour 
earlier,  as  they  had  to  assemble  in  the  College-hall  at 
seven  for  study.  On  Sundays  both  oppidans  and  Col- 
legers attended  chapel  at  ten  and  at  thi'ee,  and  submitted 
to  a  pious  discourse  in  Upper  School  previous  to  the 
afternoon  service. 

Up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  Eton  may 
be  said  to  have  held,  almost  unchallenged,  the  supremacy 
among  the  great  public  schools  of  the  country,  although 
the  time  was  rapidly  drawing  near,  when  this  supremacy 
was  likely  to  be  put  severely  to  the  test  by  the  rapid 
advance  and  development  of  other  schools. 

Winchester,  the   mother  of  all   public  schools,  Eton 


146  ETON    COLLEGE 

included,  has  throughout  its  history  maintained  a  steady 
and  dignified  reserve,  resting  for  supjiort  almost  entirely 
upon  itself.  Few  schools  can  point  to  such  a  calm  and 
even  existence,  the  very  uneventfulness  of  its  history 
proving  the  stability  of  William  of  Wykeham's  founda- 
tion, and  the  sagacity  and  prescience  of  its  founder. 
Closely  linked  and  deeply  indebted  as  Eton  College  was 
to  Winchester  at  the  outset,  the  histories  of  the  two 
royal  colleges  took  different  roads,  and,  until  the  revival 
of  the  ancient  intimacy  through  the  game  of  cricket,  the 
two  Colleges  interfered  seldom  in  each  other's  affairs. 

This  was  not  the  case  elsewhere.  As  other  schools 
came  into  existence,  Eton  was  looked  to  as  the  chief 
place  of  education,  from  which  teachers  could  be  supplied. 
The  first  public  school  of  importance  to  be  founded  after 
Winchester  and  Eton  was  the  school  founded  in  1512  by 
Dean  Colet  in  St.  PauFs  Churchyard.  The  first  head  oi 
'  high '  master  appointed  by  Colet  was  William  Lily,  the 
famous  grammarian.  In  1517  a  second  master  (sur- 
master),  corresponding  to  the  '  usher  "■  at  Eton,  was 
appointed  in  the  person  of  John  Rightzvise  (1508),  a 
scholar  of  Eton  and  King's,  who  married  Lily's  daughter, 
and  succeeded  him  in  1522  as  high  master  of  St.  Paul's 
school.  The  connection,  apart  from  the  history  of 
St.  Paul's  school,  is  not  unimportant.  The  first  Latin 
grammar  printed  in  England  was  published  by  John 
Anwykyll,  Head-master  of  Magdalen  School,  Oxford,  and 
printed  at  Oxford  about  1481.  Another  was  published 
about  1497  by  John  Holte  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford, 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC.     147 

under  the  title  of  Lac  Piieroriim.  This  was  issued,  together 
with  some  similar  small  works,  by  John  Stanbridge,  second 
Head-master  of  Magdalen  School,  and  supplemented  by 
Robert  Whittinton.  Dean  Colet  himself  compiled  a  short 
work,  Rialhmnta  Grammatices,  in  1510,  for  the  use  of 
his  school.  To  this  work  Lily  contributed  a  short 
Latin  syntax,  with  the  rules  in  English,  which  was 
afterwards  revised  at  Colefs  request  by  Erasmus,  and 
published  with  the  rules  in  Latin.  Rightwise  added 
to  Lily's  Latin  syntax  a  short  supplement  of  his  own. 
Both  the  Stanbridge- Whittington  and  the  Colet-Lily- 
Erasmus  grammars  were  largely  used  in  schools,  and 
what  has  been  called  a  '  bellum  grammatical '  raged  for 
some  time  between  Lily  and  Whittington,  which  found 
vent  in  the  satire,  called  Antibossicon,  published  by 
William  Horman,  Vice-Provost  of  Eton,  in  1521. 
Lily's  grannnar,  however,  won  the  day,  and  in  1540 
his  and  Colefs  works  were  combined  into  a  single 
grammar,  enjoined  by  royal  authority  for  use  by  boys 
throughout  England.  In  1548  a  further  proclamation 
to  the  same  effect,  issued  by  Edward  VI.,  caused  the 
grammar  to  be  known  as  '  King  Edward  the  Sixth's 
Latin  Grammar.'  This  Latin  grammar  went  through 
several  editions,  and  was  certainly  used  by  Shakespeare 
at  school,  since  he  quoted  it  more  than  once.  Eventu- 
ally, after  various  revisions,  it  was  recast  in  1758,  and 
issued  apart  at  Eton,  after  which  it  was  known  as 
The  Eton  Latin  Grammar.  Some  of  the  most  familiar 
and  most  often  quoted  rules  were  among  those  retained 


148  ETON   COLLEGE 

from  the  original  gi'ammar  of  I^ily  and  Rightwise. 
Other  Etonians  followed  Rightwise  as  Head-master  of 
St.  Paul's  School,  from  which  many  men  of  eminence 
issued  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

There  were  other  grammar  schools  founded  about  the 
same  date,  all  of  which  came  to  Eton  for  Head-masters. 
Richard  Martindale  (1546)  was   master  of  the   Mercers' 
School ;   Richard   Mulcaster   (1548),    first    of    Merchant 
Taylors'  School  and  then  of  St.  Paul's ;  Rodolph  Wadding- 
ton  (1548),  of  the  Grey  Friars'  School.    The  great  school  at 
Westminster,  founded  by  Henry  VIII.  in  connection  with 
the    College    in    the   Abbey,   passed    under   the   sway  of 
Nicholas  Udall,  the  ex-Head-master  of  Eton,  in  1554.     It 
was  reconstituted  and  refounded  by  Elizabeth,  who  sought 
to  link  it  with  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  on  the  same 
lines  as  Eton  was  with  King's,  and  one  of  its  earliest 
Head-masters  after  its  reform  was  an  Etonian,   Tlwmas 
Browne   (1550).      When    Cardinal    Wolsey   founded    his 
great    school    at    Ipswich,    about    1524,   he    selected    an 
Etonian,     William    Goulding    (1515),    as    Head -master. 
Goulding  (or  Goldwyne)  later  on  returned  to  Eton,  and 
was  for  two  or  three  years  Head-master  there,  from  1526 
to  1529,  after  which  he  became  a  Fellow  and  Vice-Provost. 
Elsewhere   in    the    provinces    Etonians   were   in   demand 
during  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.   Bury 
St.  Edmunds,  Chelmsford,  Durham,  Guildford,  and  others, 
all  coming  to  Eton  and  King's  for  their  Head-masters. 

The  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  throne  was  the 
signal  for  an  outburst  of  activity  in  the  educational  world. 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,   ETC.     149 

Edward  VI.  had  busied  himself  with  converting  the  schools 
which  existed  in  several  important  towns  into  properly 
organised  and  constituted  grammar  schools,  but  these  had 
little  influence  except  locally. 

The  reconstitution  of  Westminster  in  1560,  and  the 
foundation  of  Merchant  Taylors'  School  in  1561,  was 
(juickly  followed  by  the  foundation  of  Rugby  School  in 
1567,  and  the  reconstitution  of  Harrow  School  by  John 
Lyon  in  1571,  both  of  which  were  to  openly  challenge 
the  supremacy  of  Eton  in  public  estimation. 

Rugby  School  maintained  a  somewhat  precarious 
existence  for  the  first  two  hundred  years  of  its  career. 
It  cannot  be  said  to  have  taken  its  rank  until  as  late 
as  1778,  and  its  elevation  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  two 
Etonians,  former  King's  scholars  and  Fellows  of  King's 
College,  Tlumia.s  James  (1767),  who  was  appointed  Head- 
master of  Rugby  School  in  1778,  and  James  Chartres 
(1772),  who  was  appointed  Second-master  at  the  same 
time.  With  the  history  of  Rugby  School  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  deal  here,  as  it  has  been  already  ably  dealt  with 
in  a  previous  volume  of  the  series,  wherein  the  debt  owed 
by  Rugby  to  Eton,  in  the  person  of  Dr.  James,  is  fully 
acknowledged  and  described.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  James 
introduced  the  Eton  system  of  teaching  and  disci}) line 
into  Rugby  School  with  complete  success  so  far  as  con- 
cerned the  prosperity  of  the  school,  and  that  when  he 
died  a  memorial  tablet  was  erected  in  Rugby  Chapel 
to  commemorate  his  Head-mastershij).  Even  the  latest 
historian  of  Rugby  School  is  constrained  to  admit  that 


150  ETON    COLLEGE 

Dr.  James  was  the  real  creator  of  Rugby  as  it  now  is, 
even  more  than  his  once  famous  successor  in  later  days, 
Dr.  Thomas  Arnold.  James  was  succeeded  at  Rugby  by 
an  Eton  and  Cambridge  contemporary,  Henry  Ingles 
(1768),  who  carried  on  the  Eton  traditions  on  the  same 
lines  as  his  predecessor,  but  did  not  attain  to  anything 
like  the  same  distinction  in  the  ranks  of  head-masters. 
It  may,  perhaps,  reflect  back  upon  Eton  with  some  credit 
that  the  famous  Dr.  Samuel  Butler,  Head-master  of 
Shrewsbury  School,  was  James's  most  successful  pupil. 

Harrow  School,  like  Rugby,  was  slow  in  pushing  its 
way  to  the  front,  and  it  was  not  until  the  nineteenth 
century  that  it  began  to  show  itself  as  the  formidable 
rival  to  Eton,  which  it  is  at  the  present  day.  Towards 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  Harrow  fell  under 
the  sway  of  a  series  of  Eton  Head-masters,  all  Collegers 
and  King's  men,  which  lasted  for  about  one  hundi*ed  and 
fifty  years.  The  first  was  WJllkim  Home  (1656),  son  of 
the  Head-master  of  Eton,  and  for  a  time  Usher  there 
himself.  He  was  the  first  man  of  mark  to  be  Head- 
master of  Harrow.  His  successor  was  followed  by 
Thomas  Bryan  (1677),  who  was  in  his  turn,  after  a 
short  interlude,  succeeded  by  Thotnas  Tluickeray  (1711), 
great  -  grandfather  of  the  novelist,  and  formerly  As- 
sistant-master at  Eton,  a  post  which  he  resigned  in 
consequence  of  his  share  in  the  famous  '  Bangorian  Con- 
troversy '  between  Dr.  Snape,  Head-master  of  Eton,  and 
Bishop  Hoadly  of  Bangor.  Thackeray  was  a  candidate 
for  the  Provostship  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  on  the 


BUILDINGS,    SCHOOL-WORK,    ETC.     151 

death  of  Dr.  Snape,  when  he  was  defeated,  after  a  hard 
fight,  by  Dr.  George,  the  Head-master  of  Eton.  Thackeray 
was  succeeded  by  another  Etonian,  Robert  Carey  Sumner 
(1747),  and  Sumner  in  his  turn  by  Benjamin  Heath 
(1758),  who  was  successful  against  the  popular  candidate. 
Dr.  Samuel  Parr,  whose  cause  was  adopted  by  the  anti- 
Etonian  party  at  Harrow.  Heath  was  succeeded  by  his 
brother-in-law,  Joseph  Drury,  whose  sons,  Henry  Joseph 
Thomas  Drury  (1796)  and  Benjamin  Heath  Drury  (1800) 
continued  a  traditional  connection  with  both  Harrow  and 
Eton  far  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  history  of  Harrow  School  will  be  recounted  in 
another  volume  of  this  series.  It  will  be  sufficient  to 
admit  here  that  the  long  series  of  Etonian  Head-masters 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  of  any  special  benefit  to 
Harrow  in  the  long  run,  and  that  it  was  not  until  Harrow 
had  established  a  record  and  regime  of  its  own  that  it 
came  into  the  front  rank  of  public  schools.  Even  in 
more  recent  days,  when  a  distinguished  Eton  and  King''s 
scholar,  James  Edward  Coxoell  Welldon,  was  appointed 
Head-master  of  Harrow,  it  may  be  said  that  the  ten 
years  of  his  Head-mastership  did  more  to  make  him  a 
Harrovian  than  to  introduce  any  element  of  Etonianism 
into  the  strictly  individual  character  of  Harrow  School 
itself. 

Amid  the  scandals  of  the  court,  the  political  corrup- 
tion of  Parliament,  and  the  general  coarseness  and  reck- 
lessness of  polite  society  during  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  one  figure  which  stands  out  pro- 


152  ETON    COLLEGE 

minent  in  its  homely  simplicity  is  that  of  the  king, 
George  III.  At  Windsor  George  III.  always  showed 
special  favour  to  the  Eton  boys,  and  would  recognise  boys 
and  speak  to  them,  when  walking  on  the  terrace,  reviving 
thereby  memories  of  the  pious  founder,  whose  sad  fate 
was,  alas,  to  be  imitated  in  him.  Many  pleasing  tales 
are  told  of  the  king's  love  for  Eton  and  his  familiarity 
and  pleasantry  with  the  boys.  The  King's  scholars  he 
evidently  liked  to  fancy  were  so  called  out  of  compliment 
to  him,  and  although  they  had  been  so  styled  long  before, 
George  III.  very  probably  ended  by  believing  that  they 
owed  their  name  to  him.  Miss  Burney  narrates  in  her 
diary  how  the  king  and  queen  again  went  to  hear  speeches 
on  Election  Monday  in  1787,  and  how  they  heard  George 
Canning  and  '  Bobus '  Smith  deliver  orations. 

So  deeply  did  Eton  venerate  the  person  of  their  kindly 
king  that  his  birthday,  the  4th  of  June,  was  appointed  to 
be  observed  as  a  whole  holiday.  It  does  not  seem  that  it 
was  intended  to  mark  this  day  as  a  permanent  festival, 
but  a  custom  once  established  is  not  easily  dropped,  and 
the  anniversary  has  now  become  immovably  fixed  in 
popular  favour  as  the  principal  festival  in  the  Eton 
calendar. 


VII 

DR.    GOODALL   AND    DR.    KEATE 

Dr.  Heath  resigned  the  Head-mastership  of  Eton  in  1801, 
and  retired  to  the  congenial  obscurity  of  a  Fellowship. 
He  was  succeeded  by  one  of  the  Assistant -masters, 
Joseph  Goodall  (1778),  who  had  had  as  brilliant  a 
career  at  Cambridge  as  was  then  possible  for  King's 
men.  Dr.  Goodall  has  left  the  reputation  of  having 
been  very  successful  as  Head-master  of  Eton.  He  was 
indeed  in  all  appearances  an  ideal  Head-master.  Hand- 
some and  dignified  in  mien,  he  was  courteous,  hospitable, 
and  not  without  a  fitting  supply  of  wit  and  humour. 
His  discipline  was  enforced  as  mildly  as  possible.  He 
was  a  prime  favourite  with  the  king.  Dr.  Goodall  was 
only  Head-master  for  eight  years  or  so,  since  he  succeeded 
Dr.  Davies  as  Provost  in  1809,  a  post  which  he  occupied 
in  dignified  state  for  about  thirty  years. 

Dr.  Goodall  was  the  strongest  of  conservatives.  His 
whole  life  and  soul  was  bound  up  in  Eton,  and  every 
stone  or  pinnacle  of  the  College  was  dear  to  his  heart. 
To  him  the  Eton  system  of  education  and  living  was 
the  best  possible,  apart  from  it  having  been  handed 
down  by  a  tradition  which  it  would  be  heretical  to 
question.     No  reform,  therefore,  took  place  in  school  or 

153 


154  ETON    COLLEGE 

College  during  Dr.  Goodairs  regime.  Though  the  said 
regime  was  far  from  being  inglorious  and  unsuccessful, 
and  Eton  waxed  fat  and  well-liking  under  the  sympathetic 
guidance  of  Dr.  Goodall,  it  yet  may  be  compared  to  that 
of  the  Grand  Monarque  in  France,  who  raised  his  country 
to  an  exalted  eminence,  but  who  not  only  made  the 
Revolution  possible,  but  bequeathed  it  to  his  successors 
as  a  certainty. 

That  Dr.  Goodall  was  appreciated  as  a  Head-master, 
at  all  events  by  the  boys  who  worked  immediately  under 
him,  is  well  shown  by  the  tribute  paid  to  him  by  one 
who  was  a  sixth-form  boy  under  him,  and  was  destined  to 
succeed  eventually  to  the  post  of  Head-master — Edward 
Craven  Hawtrey.  Hawtrey  said  that  Goodall  "had  a 
peculiar  talent  of  finding  out  and  stirring  up  latent 
powers — powers  of  which,  from  snubbing  and  neglect, 
the  possessor  himself  was  wholly  ignorant,  and  ready  to 
give  up  all  exertion  in  despair.  Goodall  caught  at  the 
first  symptom  of  merit,  gave  it  more  than  its  due  praise, 
but  not  more  than  the  broken  spirit  required  ;  and  if  he 
found  responsive  diligence,  he  took  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity of  rewarding  it,  and  thereby  making  a  character 
which  might,  by  less  kind  management,  have  soon  sunk 
into  absolute  and  inconceivable  nothingness." 

Dr.  Goodall,  too,  was  fortunate  in  the  boys  whom  he 
sent  out  into  the  world  from  Eton.  Taking  the  Church 
first,  the  profession  which  comprised  for  long  most  of  the 
scholarship  of  England,  there  came  from  Eton  during 
the  few  years  of  Dr.  GoodalFs  rule,  in  addition  to  the 


JOSEPH    GOODALI,,    D.D. 
From  the  Oil  Painting  by  J,  Jackson,  R.A.,  in  the  Fr<n<ost's  I.otigc,  Eton  College. 


To  face  f'.  154. 


DR.    GOODALL    AND    DR.    KEATE      155 

deaneries  and  canonries  which  formed  the  appanages  of 
a  territorial  aristocracy,  such  distinguished  churchmen  as 
John  Lonsdale  (1806),  Fellow  of  Eton  and  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field ;  Henry  Hart  Mihnan,  Dean  of  St.  FauTs ;  Charles 
Richard  Stimner,  Bishop  of  Winchester  ;  Christoplier 
Benson,  Master  of  the  Temple ;  Robert  BuUocli-Mai-sham, 
Warden  of  Merton  College ;  Hugh  Percy,  Bishop  of  Car- 
lisle ;  and  Charles  Lloyd,  Bishop  of  Oxford.  In  the  history 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  expansion  of  England,  Etonians 
have  always  played  a  great  part.  Few  can  be  said  to 
have  served  their  country  abroad  with  greater  distinction 
besides  Stratford  Canning;  mentioned  before,  than 
Edmund  Law,  afterwards  famous  as  Earl  of  Ellenborough 
and  Governor-General  of  India,  and  John  George  Lamb- 
ton,  who  earned  undying  fame  as  Earl  of  Durham  and 
Governor-General  of  Canada.  With  India,  too,  are  con- 
nected the  names  of  Sir  TJwmas  Metcalfe,  Commissioner 
at  Delhi  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Sepoy  mutiny ;  Sir 
Kdzcard  John  Gambier,  Chief-Justice  of  Madras;  Sir 
Cluirles  Grey,  Chief-Justice  of  Bengal.  Under  the  head 
of  judges  came  John  Patteson  (1808),  and  John  Taylor 
Coleridge,  united  by  friendship  in  College  at  Eton,  and 
by  other  links  between  two  eminently  Etonian  families; 
and  also  Richard  Bitddcn  Crowder.  In  Parliament  and 
polite  society  the  names  were  afterwards  well  known  of 
the  Hon.  George  Lamb;  Henry  Gaily  Knight,  anticpiary, 
amateur,  and  author ;  John  Nicholas  Fazakerlcy ;  Nassau 
William  Senior,  the  political  economist;  George  Warde 
Normcm,  the  banker  and  founder    of  a  prolific  Etonian 


156  ETON    COLLEGE 

progeny ;  and  Sir  Denis  Le  Marchant.  Two  Dukes  of 
Northumberland  in  succession,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough^  the 
Duke  of  Leinster^  and  the  Duke  qf  Buckingham  showed  in 
after  life  that  they  had  learnt  at  Eton  to  utilise  their  high 
rank  in  the  service  of  their  country.  In  diplomacy  may  be 
noted,  besides  Stratford  Canning,  the  names  of  Sir  Edward 
Cromwell  Dishrowe,  Edward  James  Dawkims,  Sir  TJiomas 
Cartwright.  Scanty  as  was  the  mathematical  education 
at  Eton  in  Dr.  Goodall's  days,  he  yet  produced  a  senior 
wrangler  in  Sir  John  George  Shaw-Lefevre,  and  a  second 
wrangler  in  Thomas  Shazae  Brandreth.  Other  Etonians 
were  more  singular  in  their  fates.  TJiomas  Gordon  was 
one  of  the  chief  of  the  band  of  Englishmen  who,  with 
Lord  Byron,  Trelawny,  and  others,  threw  in  their  lot 
with  the  Greeks  in  their  attempt  to  shake  oflp  the  des- 
potism of  Turkey.  Sir  George  Cathcarfs  name  is  linked 
with  the  Crimean  War.  Sir  John  Herschel  was  sent  by 
his  father  at  Slough  to  Eton,  but  only  remained  there  a 
few  months,  so  that  his  senior  wranglership  and  subsequent 
fame  can  hardly  be  credited  to  Eton.  It  was  during 
Dr.  GoodalPs  reign  that  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley,  the  poet  of 
poets,  passed  his  wayward  will-of-the-wisp  career  at  Eton. 
Lovers  of  sports  and  athletics  will  be  pleased  to  dwell 
upon  the  names  of  George  Oshaldeston,  the  famous 
cricketer  and  huntsman ;  of  Francis  Jack  Needham,  Earl 
of  Kilmorcy,  who  for  a  bet  rowed  from  Oxford  to  London 
in  one  day ;  and  perhaps  of  Sir  John  Duncan  Bligh,  after- 
wards Minister  at  Hanover,  who  was  one  of  the  few  Eton 
boys  who  was  both   in   the   Eleven  and   the  Eight,  and 


PERCY    HYSSIIK    SHEI.I.EY. 
From  thf  Oil  rainting  by  Miss  Aiiieiia  CurriUi,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


Tojacc  />.  156. 


DR.    GOODALL   AND    DR.    KEATE      157 

captain  of  the  oppidans  besides.  At  the  close  of  his  long 
career  as  Provost,  Dr.  Goodall  could  therefore  point  with 
satisfaction  to  the  distinguished  Etonians  whose  paths  he 
had  first  assisted  in  training.  In  1809,  upon  the  death 
of  Provost  Davies,  the  Provostship  was  bestowed,  as  had 
become  almost  regular  and  customary,  upon  Dr.  Goodall, 
who  exchanged  the  subordinate  if  dignified  office  of 
Head-master  for  the  luxury  and  ease  of  the  Provost's 
lodge,  and  the  still  more  pleasing  prospect  of  being  able 
to  check  and  criticise  his  successor's  career. 

Among  the  Assistant-masters  appointed  by  Dr.  Davies 
had  been  John  Keate,  an  Eton  and  King's  scholar  of  course, 
who,  like  Dr.  Goodall,  had  won  as  much  distinction  at 
Cambridge  as  a  King's  man  at  that  day  could.  Keate 
returned  to  Eton  as  Assistant-master  in  1795,  and  in  1802 
succeeded  the  court  favourite,  Dr.  Langford,  as  Lower- 
master.  This  position  marked  him  easily  out  for  the  part 
of  Head-master,  as  successor  to  Dr.  Goodall.  No  greater 
contrast  could  well  be  imagined  between  any  two  persons 
than  that  between  Dr.  Goodall  and  his  successor.  Dr. 
Goodall  was  tall,  comely,  well-proportioned  in  limb, 
courtly  in  demeanour,  careful  and  elegant  in  his  dress. 
Dr.  Keate  was  short,  thick-set,  red-haired,  loud-voiced, 
with  a  cast  of  features  which  lent  themselves  easily  to 
caricature.  And  yet  the  fame  of  Dr.  Keate  has  over- 
shadowed that  of  Dr.  Goodall,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  that  of  the  Grand  Monarquc  was  to  be  cast  in  the 
shade  by  the  subsequent  fame  of  Napoleon. 

It  was  not  only  in  appearance  that  Keate  was  a  con- 


158  ETON    COLLEGE 

trast  to  Goodall.  His  manner  was  harsh  and  savoured  of 
dictatorship,  rather  than  a  constitutional  regime.  His 
ideas  of  disciphne  were  severe  and  extreme,  and  far  from 
pleasing  to  the  boys  under  him.  As  a  boy  wrote  in  1810, 
"  Keate  will  not  bear  being  trifled  with  half  so  well  as 
Goodall,  and  will  deal  his  blows  about  with  a  heavy  hand 
should  they  force  him  to  extremities,"  Keate's  indomitable 
pluck  and  spirit,  however,  enabled  him  to  ride  safely  over 
the  dangers  which  beset  him  during  his  Head -mastership. 

Many  are  the  tales,  anecdotes,  and  legends  which  have 
gi'own  up  and  become  encrusted  round  the  name  of  Dr. 
Keate,  Many  of  them  are  well  known,  almost  historical, 
and  need  not  be  repeated  in  a  sketch  of  these  abridged 
dimensions.  The  curious  will  find  them  for  the  most 
part  recorded  in  Mr,  Lucas  Collinses  Etoniana,  or  in  Sir 
H.  C.  Maxwell-Lyte's  Historic  of  Eton  College.  The  days 
of  Dr,  Keate,  moreover,  are  not  so  far  removed  from  the 
present  as  to  prevent  even  the  living  generations  of  Eton- 
ians from  hearing  good  stores  of  anecdotes  about  Dr.  Keate 
from  their  fathers  or  grandfathers.  The  greater  number  of 
these  anecdotes  relate  to  Keate's  frequent  and  effective 
use  of  the  birch-rod  to  enforce  his  discipline,  and  in  this 
line  he  has  become  as  historical  as  the  '  plagosus  Orbilius ' 
who  troubled  the  early  years  of  Horace, 

The  use  of  the  birch  had  been  a  powerful  ingredient 
throughout  the  history  of  Eton  as  a  means  of  imparting 
knowledge  and  preserving  discipline.  As  early  as  1500 
John  Stanbridge,  the  grammarian  of  Magdalen  School, 
Oxford  (mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter),  is  depicted 


DR.    GOODALL    AND    DR.    KEATE      159 

in  an  old  woodcut,  as  inculcating  the  Latin  grammar  with 
the  help  of  the  birch.  Tusser  the  poet  alludes  to  its 
frequent  use  in  the  often-quoted  lines  : — 

From  Powles  I  went,  to  Aeton  seat 

To  learne  straightwayes  the  Latin  phraise, 

Where  fiftie-three  stripes  given  to  mee 

At  once  I  had 
For  faut  but  small  or  none  at  all, 
It  came  to  passe  thus  beat  I  was ; 
See  Udall,  see,  the  mercy  of  thee 

To  mee,  poor  lad. 

Allusion  has  also  been  made  to  the  frequency  of  flog- 
gings under  Dr.  Malim,  and  to  the  fact  of  some  boys  having 
run  away  from  Eton  to  avoid  it,  having  proved  the  theme 
of  Roger  Ascham's  famous  treatise.  The  Scholemaster. 
In  this  treatise  Sir  Richard  Sackville,  although  first-cousin 
to  Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  regrets  that  "  A  fond  school- 
master, before  he  was  fullie  fourteene  years  olde,  drove 
him  with  feare  of  beating  from  all  love  of  learning."'"' 

A  similar  apprehension  deprived  Eton  of  the  honour 
of  educating  John  Evelyn,  the  celebrated  antiquary  and 
diarist,  who  says  of  himself  that  "  My  father  would  wil- 
lingly have  weaned  me  from  my  fondness  of  my  too  in- 
dulgent grandmother,  intending  to  have  placed  me  at 
Eaton ;  but  I  was  so  terrified  at  the  report  of  the  severe 
discipline  there,  that  I  was  sent  back  to  Lewes,  which 
perverseness  of  mine  I  have  since  a  thousand  times  de- 
plored."" The  resignation  of  Dr.  Rosewell,  the  Head- 
master in  1682,  is  reputed  to  have  been  due  to  his  remorse 


160  ETON    COLLEGE 

at  thinking  that  the  death  of  one  of  the  boys  had  been 
due  to  excessive  flogging ;  but  this  has  not  been  proved. 
After  the  famous  rebellion  of  the  boys  and  secession  to 
Maidenhead  under  Dr.  Foster,  it  is  recorded  that  the 
parents  of  some  of  the  leading  boys  in  the  greatest  fami- 
lies compelled  their  sons  to  return  for  the  inevitable  flog- 
ging before  they  were  allowed  to  leave  the  school.  Dr. 
Davies,  when  Head-master,  seems  to  have  used  the  birch 
plentifully,  and  when  a  kind  of  rebellion  took  place  in  his 
day,  the  first  action  of  the  boys  was  to  wreak  their  ven- 
geance upon  the  block  upon  which  so  many  of  them  had 
knelt  for  execution. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  Dr.  Keate,  in  governing  by 
the  birch,  was  creating  no  new  precedent  in  the  history  of 
the  school.  It  may,  however,  be  alleged  quite  fairly  that 
Dr.  Keate  carried  the  practice  too  far.  Boys  were  flogged 
for  the  slightest  offence  in  or  out  of  school.  It  was  even 
possible  for  a  boy  to  be  flogged  three  times  in  one  day. 
Dr.  Keate  did  not  pause  to  listen  to  reason,  and  the  birch 
rose  and  fell  on  more  than  one  occasion  before  an  inno- 
cent boy  had  time  to  plead  his  guiltlessness  or  prove  or 
disprove  his  identity. 

But  if  Dr.  Keate  is  to  be  blamed  for  his  frequent  use 
of  the  birch,  whereby  all  the  same  he  has  perhaps  gained 
innnortality,  he  was  to  a  certain  extent  justified  by  the 
difficulties  under  which  he  laboured  in  making  the  school 
discipline  efifective.  Although  the  numbers  of  the  school 
showed  a  steady  tendency  to  increase,  the  number  of 
Assistant-masters  and  of  classrooms  remained  practically 


JOHN    KEATE,    D.D. 

From  a  Pencil  Sketch  in  the  possession  of 
U'lii.  Lcveson-Gower. 


To  face  p.  1 60. 


DR.    GOODALL   AND    DR.    KEATE      161 

stationary.  Upper  School,  Lower  School,  and  one  or  two 
poky  little  schoolrooms  under  Long  Chamber  or  Upper 
School,  were  all  the  classrooms  in  which  some  six  hun- 
dred boys  had  to  be  accommodated.  The  Head-master 
himself  had  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  boys 
in  his  division,  separated  only  from  the  next  divi- 
sion of  equal  dimensions  by  a  curtain  drawn  across 
Upper  School.  It  is  small  wonder  that,  with  a  division 
of  this  size,  even  so  great  a  potentate  as  the  Head- 
master, though,  as  his  pupil,  Kinglake  the  historian, 
has  described,  he  had  within  his  diminutive  form  the 
'  pluck  of  ten  battalions,'  should  not  unfrequently  fail 
to  keep  order.  Yet  in  spite  of  Dr.  Keate's  small  failings 
in  temper  and  dignity,  in  spite  of  his  frequent  and 
vigorous  use  of  the  birch,  the  reputation  of  Eton  grew 
steadily  under  his  rule.  As  the  author  of  Eton'iana  has 
well  said.  Dr.  Keate  "  was  a  gi'eat  scholar,  an  elegant  poet, 
a  capital  teacher ;  and  we  must  not  hold  lightly  the  man 
who  has  flogged  half  the  ministers,  secretaries,  bishops, 
generals,  and  dukes  of  the  present  century." 

For  twenty -five  years  Dr.  Keate  thundered  and 
brandished  his  shaggy  eyebrows  at  the  farther  desk 
in  Upper  School,  or  awaited  his  many  victims  in  the 
neighbouring  room.  Those  who  judge  of  the  success 
of  a  school  by  the  amount  of  aristocratic  pupils  which 
it  attracts,  will  be  interested  in  the  fact  that  Dr.  Keate 
numbered  among  his  pupils  sixteen  dukes,  fifteen  mar- 
quesses, more  than  fifty  earls,  with  viscounts,  barons, 
and    baronets    to    be    reckoned    by    the    dozen.     Among 


162  ETON   COLLEGE 

Etonian  statesmen,  who  were  at  Eton  under  Dr.  Keate, 
the  most  distinguished  were  Edioard^  fourteenth  Earl  of 
Derby  and  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  both  Prime  Ministers, 
scholars,  and  lovers  of  the  Homeric  poems.  Foreign 
affairs  were  administered  for  many  years  by  Etonians  in 
the  persons  of  the  Earl  of  Malmeshury,  Earl  Granville, 
and  Sir  Stafford  Noi'thcote,  afterwards  Earl  of  Iddesleigh, 
as  they  have  been  in  these  later  days  by  the  Marquess  of 
Salisbury  and  the  Earl  of  Rosebery.  The  Speaker"'s  chair 
in  the  House  of  Commons  was  filled  successively  by 
Etonians,  John  Evelyn  Denison  (Viscount  Ossington)  in 
1857,  Henry  Brand  (Viscount  Hampden)  in  1872,  and 
Arthur  Wellesley  Peel  (Viscount  Peel)  in  1884.  The  Earl 
of  Lincoln,  as  Duke  of  Newcastle,  became  Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland  and  Secretary  of  State  for  War  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Crimean  War.  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis, 
Bart.,  who  became  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  was 
accounted  the  soundest  intellect  and  most  learned  man 
of  his  age.  Sir  Charles  Wood  (Viscount  Halifax),  Sir 
John  Pakingion  (formerly  Russell,  and  afterwards  Lord 
Hampton),  and  Sir  John  Young  (afterwards  Lord 
Lisgar),  were  prominent  politicians  in  their  day ;  and  of 
minor  importance  in  politics  were  Sir  Thf)inas  Fremantle 
(Lord  Cottesloe),  Colonel  Beresford,  the  Earl  of  Carlisle, 
Spencer  Walpole,  Henry  Tufncll,  Sir  Frederick  Rogers 
(afterwards  Lord  Blachford),  WilUam  Cowper  (Lord 
Mount-Temple),  Lord  Redesdale,  and  Edward  Ellice. 
One  Etonian,  Edmond  Beales,  a  well-known  demo- 
cratic agitator,  gained  unexpected  notoriety  at  the  time 


DR.    GOODALL    AND    DR.    KEATE      163 

of  the  destruction  of  the  railings  round  Hyde  Park  in 
July  1866. 

The  connection  of  Eton  with  India  was  kept  up 
by  Charles,  Earl  Canning,  the  first  Viceroy,  and  his 
successor,  James  Bruce,  e'lghth  Earl  of  Elgin,  while  a 
large  share  in  the  government  of  India  was  contributed 
by  Sir  John  Peter  Grant,  Lord  Elphinstone,  Sir  Henry 
Conyngham  Montgomery,  Lord  Harris,  and  Sir  John 
William  Kaye.  The  legal  history  of  India  comprised  Sir 
James  W.  Colvile,  Sir  Edicard  ShejyJu-rd  Creasy  (1830), 
and  William  Ritchie,  while  one  word  is  due  to  a  Colleger, 
Henry  S.  Polehampton,  who  died  while  ministering  to 
the  religion  of  the  unfortunate  persons  besieged  in  Luck- 
now.  In  the  ranks  of  diplomacy  were  found  Sir  Woodbine 
Parish,  Lord  Howard  dc  Wakleu,  Sir  George  Hamilton 
Seymour,  Sir  Ralph  Ahercromhy,  Earl  Coxcley,  Lord 
Stuart  de  Decies,  Sir  Charles  Murray,  Sir  Edward  Harris, 
Sir  John  Crampton,  Sir  Henry  Elliot,  and  Sir  Henry  G. 
Howard.  To  the  Church  Eton  sent  Richard  Durnford, 
Bishop  of  Chichester ;  Walter  Kerr  Hamilton,  Rishop  of 
Salisbury ;  Edward  Harold  Browne,  Rishoj)  of  A\'in- 
chester ;  John  Fielder  Mackarness,  Bishop  of  Oxford ; 
John  Charles  Ryle,  Bishop  of  Liverpool.  Edicard  Bouverie 
Pusey  is  one  of  the  great  names  of  the  so-called  ()xfoi*d 
movement.  Henry  Michell  Wagner  (1811)  became  the 
well  -  known  clergyman  at  Brighton.  The  brothers 
Richard  William  Jclf  and  William  Edivard  JclJ'  were 
well  known  in  after  life,  the  former  as  Principal  of 
King's    College,  London,  the   latter  as  a   Greek   scholar 


164  ETON    COLLEGE 

and  grammarian.  William  lVig-a7i  Harvey  (1828), 
became  famous  as  the  hero  of  the  Ewelme  rectory 
appointment.  Another  family  of  brothers,  William 
Selzvyn,  Lady  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cam- 
bridge ;  George  Augustus  Selwyn,  Primate  of  New 
Zealand,  and  Bishop  of  Lichfield  ;  and  Sir  Charles  Ja^sper 
Sehvyn,  Lord  Justice  of  Appeal,  have  left  a  name 
honoured  in  the  annals  of  Eton.  Another  family  of 
brothers,  the  Denisons,  included  not  only  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  but  Edzvard  Denisou,  Bishop 
of  Salisbury;  George  Arxthony  De7iison,  the  well-known 
militant  Archdeacon  of  Taunton ;  and  Sir  William 
Tlwinas  Deniso7i,  Governor  of  Van  Diemen's  Land  and 
New  South  Wales,  and  afterwards  of  Madras.  Among 
lawyers  educated  under  Dr.  Keate,  in  addition  to  Charles 
J.  Selwyn,  were  Sir  Anthony  Cleasby,  who  attained  to  the 
Bench,  as  did  also  Sir  George  Mellish,  whose  biographer 
says  that  "  at  school  he  was  a  good  sculler,  but  neither 
an  athlete  nor  a  diligent  scholar."  Sir  John  WicArns, 
afterwards  Vice-Chancellor,  was  of  the  highest  repute  as 
a  la\\'yer,  while  Sir  Colin  Blacliburn  became  one  of  the 
greatest  lawyers  of  his  time,  and  ended  his  days  as  a 
Lord  of  Appeal,  with  a  peerage.  Javies  Robert  Hope-Scott 
had  so  distinguished  a  career  at  the  parliamentary  bar, 
that  a  great  future  was  predicted,  and  he  was  reputed  even 
by  so  great  an  authority  as  Mr.  Gladstone,  to  be  "  the 
most  winning  person  of  his  day ""' ;  ill-health  and  domestic 
sorrow  brought  his  life  to  a  premature  close.  Sir  John 
DuJce  Coleridge  followed  his  father  on  to  the  Bench,  and 


DR.    GOODALL   AND    DR.    KEATE      165 

outstripped  him  by  becoming  Lord  Chief -Justice  of 
England.  Edmund  Beckett- Denison^  lawyer  and  banker, 
still  remains  as  Raron  Grimthorpe,  noted  for  a  love  of 
controversy  and  a  weakness  for  the  restoration  of  ancient 
buildings.  John  Smith  Mansfield  long  presided  with 
urbanity  at  the  Marlbourgh  Street  Police  Court. 

Among  the  Etonians  of  Keate*'s  day,  who  obtained 
fame  in  divers  walks  of  life,  the  most  familiar  names  are 
those  of  the  poets  John  Moultrie  and  Winthrop  Mackworth 
Praed,  with  such  minor  bards  as  Fredei-'ick  Tenny.son 
(brother  of  the  Poet-Laureate,  and  as  a  poet  over- 
shadowed by  his  brother's  fame).  Sir  Francis  Hastings 
Doyle,  and  William  Sidney  Walker,  the  hero  of  bullying, 
akin  to  that  which  befell  Shelley,  but  in  spite  of  that 
a  poet,  scholar,  and  Etonian  at  heart ;  Captain  Gronoie, 
the  chronicler  of  fashion,  and  Edxcard  Ball-Hi/g-lws,  the 
dandy ;  Alexander  William  Kinglake,  the  historian  of 
the  Crimean  War,  and  Arthtr  Henry  Hallani,  the 
much-lamented  friend  of  Tennyson  and  Gladstone,  like 
Lycidas  "  dead  ere  his  prime " ;  Sir  George  Kettilhy 
Rickards,  the  political  economist,  and  Charles  Badhom, 
the  greatest  Greek  scholar  of  his  day,  a  worthy  successor 
of  Porson  in  the  annals  of  Eton ;  John  Hencage  Jesse,  the 
biographer;  Charles  Duke  Yonge  (1830),  the  historian, 
and  Matthew  James  Higgins  (Jacob  Omnium),  the 
journalist  and  pamphleteer ;  Sir  Arthur  Helps,  Clerk 
of  the  Privy  Council  and  essayist;  Capel  Lofft  (lSil4<), 
scholar  and  poet,  whose  father,  Capel  Lofft,  a  well-known 
miscellaneous  writer,  had  also  been  at  Eton  ;  George  John 


166  ETON   COLLEGE 

Whyte-Melv'dle,  the  popular  novelist  and  sportsman ;  Sir 
Arthur  Hod^^son,  one  of  the  makers  of  Queensland  in 
Australia,  and  Guardian  of  Shakespeare's  home  at 
Stratford-on-Avon  ;  Rohert  Gordon  Latham^  the  learned 
ethnologist ;  Thomas  Gambler  Parri/,  the  cultivated  and 
ingenious  artist ;  Sir  John  Bennet  Lawes,  the  agri- 
culturist ;  Sir  Thomas  Myddelton  Biddulph,  the  trusted 
and  confidential  friend  of  Her  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria, 
Sir  James  Scarlett,  the  leader  of  the  heavy  cavalry 
brigade  at  Balaclava ;  General  Anson,  commander  of 
the  troops  in  India  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny ; 
and  Sir  John  Michel,  the  hero  of  the  Rajputana  and 
China  campaigns,  were  among  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  many  Etonians  who  entered  the  army,  many  of 
whom  died  for  their  country  in  the  Crimea,  in  India,  and 
elsewhere,  wherever  duty  called  them.  A  special  bond 
of  interest  links  together  Mr.  Gladstone  with  his  two 
brothers,  Sir  Thomas  Gladstone,  Bart.,  and  Robertson 
Gladstone,  and  his  two  future  brothers-in-law,  Sir  Steplien 
Glynne,  Bart.,  and  George,  Lord  Lyttelton.  The  frequent 
occurrence  of  the  names  of  banking  families — Smith, 
Drummo7id,  Gosling,  Lubbock,  Scott,  Cox,  Hammersley, 
Farqnhar,  Burnett,  and  others — denotes  a  firm  financial 
basis  for  the  prosperity  of  the  school. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  among  Keate"'s  pupils  was 
Charles  Kean,  the  famous  actor.  When  his  father, 
Edmund  Kean,  made  his  great  success  as  '  Shylock ""  at 
Drury  Lane,  he  hurried  home  to  his  wife,  and  said, 
"  Mary,  you  shall  ride  in  your  carriage,  and  you,  Charley, 


DR.    GOODALL    AND    DR.    KEATE      167 

shall  be  an  Eton  boy."  And  an  Eton  boy  Charles  Kean 
became,  so  much  so,  that  at  the  height  of  his  success  the 
school  made  him  a  presentation  of  a  piece  of  silver  plate. 

The  mere  enumeration  of  these  names  is  sufficient 
to  show  the  high  level  in  general  estimation  reached  by 
the  school  under  Keate,  and  yet  there  were  crying  abuses 
in  teaching,  discipline,  food,  comfort,  &c.,  which  Keate 
was  unable  or  unwilling  to  combat,  and  which  accounted 
probably  for  a  considerable  falling  off  in  the  numbers 
of  the  school  during  the  last  few  years  of  his  Head- 
mastership.  Such  reforms  as  he  wished  to  initiate  were 
negatived  by  the  all-powerful  Provost,  Dr.  Goodall,  who 
treated  such  suggestions  in  somewhat  the  same  spirit 
as  a  Home  Rule  Bill  might  be  treated  in  these  days  by 
the  House  of  Lords.  Truly  it  was  Keate's  indomitable 
pluck  which  maintained  him  successfully  to  the  last,  so 
that  when  he  retired  in  1834  he  was  more  popular  than 
when  he  entered  on  his  post,  and  from  the  congenial 
seclusion  of  a  country  living  he  was  able  to  observe  and 
encourage  the  efforts  of  his  successor  to  introduce  some  of 
the  reforms  for  which  his  heart  must  have  often  yearned. 

A  side-light  on  Eton  under  Dr.  Keate,  not  of 
the  most  favourable  description,  is  thrown  by  Captain 
Gronow  in  his  Kemtniscences.  Keate,  after  his  retirement, 
paid  a  visit  to  the  Continent,  and  was  spied  at  Paris 
by  some  old  Etonians,  a  smart  set,  including  Gronow. 
They  forthwith  invited  the  Doctor  to  dinner  and  regaled 
him  much  to  his  satisfaction.  Then,  as  Gronow  relates, 
"  after  drinking  his  health,  as  the  bottle  passed  gaily  round. 


168  ETON    COLLEGE 

we  took  the  opportunity  of  giving  him  a  little  innocent 
chaff,  reminding  him  of  his  heavy  hand  and  arbitrary 
manner  of  proceeding.  We  told  him  how  two  of  his 
masters,  Drury  and  Knapp,  continued  without  his  know- 
ledge to  go  up  to  London  every  Saturday  to  dine  with 
Arnold  and  Kean  at  Drury  Lane.  We  spoke  of  Sumner's 
flirtation  with  the  fair  Martha  at  Spier's,  of  Mike  Fitz- 
gerald tripping  up  Plumtree  the  Master  on  his  way  to 
six  o'clock  school,  of  Cornwall's  fight  with  the  bargee,  of 
Lumley's  poaching  in  Windsor  Park,  of  our  constant 
suppers  at  the  Christopher,  of  our  getting  out  at  night, 
of  our  tandem  driving,  and  many  other  little  episodes 
to  show  that  his  Argus  eyes  were  not  always  open.  The 
Doctor  took  our  jokes  in  good  part,  and  in  his  turn  told 
us  that,  if  he  had  a  regret,  it  was  that  he  had  not  flogged 
us  a  good  deal  more ;  but  he  felt  certain  that  the  discipline 
had  done  us  a  great  deal  of  good." 

Gronow's  statements  are  not  to  be  accepted  without 
care,  but  the  above  may  be  taken  generally  as  a  fair 
description  of  Eton  discipline.  Although  the  Sumner 
mentioned  above  was  John  Bird  Sumner,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his  supposed  flirtation  with 
the  fair  Martha  at  the  sock-shop  becomes  more  intelli- 
gible, when  Gronow  narrates  that  the  poet  Shelley,  with 
whom  Gronow  was  intimate  at  Eton  and  afterwards, 
shortly  before  his  death  not  only  spoke  of  Eton  with 
warmth  and  aff'ection,  but  hankered  for  "  some  of  the 
excellent  brown  bread  and  butter  we  used  to  get  at 
Spier's,"    adding,     "  Gronow,     do     you     remember     the 


DR.    GOODALL    AND    DR.    KEATE      169 

beautiful  Martha,  the  Hebe  of  Spiers.?  She  was  the 
loveHest  girl  I  ever  saw,  and  I  loved  her  to  distraction." 
Truly  a  Hebe  of  the  first  quality  must  Martha  have  been 
to  have  been  courted  by  such  a  poet  and  also  by  a  future 
archbishop.  Henry  Hartopp  Knapp,  the  Master  referred 
to,  was  notoriously  addicted  to  theatricals  and  a  friend 
of  the  principal  actors  in  London.  A  former  pupil, 
defending  him  (in  the  Appendix  to  Etoniana),  yet  cannot 
refrain  from  recalling  "  the  occasional  rattle  up  to  London 
with  him — (the  phaeton  waiting  in  the  Slough  Road) — 
the  Juliet — the  Sir  Giles — the  Bedford — the  broiled  fowl 
and  mushroom  sauce — the  Hounslow  posters — and  the 
return  in  time  for  six-o'clock  lesson — O  nodes  ccenceque 
Deum.""  Benjamin  Heath  Drury,  the  bearer  of  a  name 
honoured  among  the  teachers  at  Eton  and  Harrow, 
sacrificed  the  brilliancy  of  his  scholarship  to  a  similar 
weakness.  When  there  were  but  nine  masters  to  600 
boys,  and  two  of  the  staff  indulged  in  such  escapades, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Keate  found  discipline  hard 
to  maintain.  The  staff  was  a  good  one,  but  inadequate, 
although  besides  Sumner  ('  Crunipety '  Sumner,  as  the 
boys  called  him),  he  was  assisted  by  such  well-known 
Eton  figures  as  Edzoanl  Craven  Haxvtrey,  George  Roxcney 
Green^  George  John  Dupuh;  Rkliard  Okes  (afterwards 
Lower-master  and  Provost  of  King's),  James  Chapman 
(afterwards  Bishop  of  Colombo),  John  Wilder,  and  Kdicard 
Coleridge.  Of  these  only  two,  Hawtrey  and  Coleridge, 
were  really  alive  to  the  necessity  for  reform. 

Dr.  Keate  was  succeeded  as  Head-master  in  18'34  bv 


170  ETON    COLLEGE 

Edward  Craven  Hawtrey.  Hawtrey  was  a  member  of 
a  family  that  had  been  connected  with  Eton  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years.  His  father  was  a  Fellow  of 
Eton  and  Vicar  of  Burnham,  and  two  of  his  aunts  had 
Dames*'  houses  at  Eton.  His  mother  was  sister  of  a 
former  Head-master,  Dr.  Foster,  whose  memory  Hawtrey 
always  treated  with  the  greatest  respect.  He  entered 
Eton  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  was  distinguished  for  his 
scholarship  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.  He  was  appointed 
an  Assistant-master  at  Eton  in  1814,  and  by  degrees 
made  his  house  the  most  fashionable  and  sought  after 
in  the  school.  During  this  period  he  lived  in  the  old 
house  in  Weston's  Yard,  built  and  formerly  occupied  by 
Sir  Henry  Savile.  Dr.  Keate  had  resided  in  the  large 
house  at  the  farther  end  of  the  lane,  which  has  ever  since 
borne  his  name.  Hawtrey,  however,  decided  to  remain 
where  he  was,  and  his  house  maintained  for  half  a 
century  or  more  the  dignity  of  being  the  Head-master's 
residence. 


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VIII 

DR.    HODGSON   AND   DR.    HAWTREY 

The  years  immediately  preceding  the  appointment  of 
Dr.  Hawtrey  to  the  Head-mastership  of  Eton  had  been 
marked  by  a  widespread  and  irrepressible  desire  throuo-h- 
out  England  for  reform  in  every  department  of  the  state. 
The  'Condition  of  England'  was  made  the  subject  of 
searching  inquiry.  The  famous  Reform  liill,  finally 
passed  in  1832  by  the  Etonian  Prime  jNIinistcr,  Earl 
Grey,  was  only  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the 
extreme  pressure  for  reform  that  was  felt  by  every  class 
of  society.  Earl  Grey's  Bill  for  the  reform  of  the 
franchise  was  but  a  moderate  innovation  compared  to 
the  more  sweeping  changes,  to  which  the  country  agreed 
with  complacency  some  fifty  years  later.  The  effect,  how- 
ever, was  vast  and  ever-widening  in  its  scope,  like  to  the 
unliarring  of  a  sluice-gate,  and  the  gradual  percolation 
of  the  dannned-up  waters  over  a  soil  that  showed  signs 
of  sterilisation.  To  put  it  shortly,  the  Reform  Bill 
destroyed  the  monopoly  of  power  held  by  the  aristocratic 
and  territorial  classes,  and  admitted  to  an  ecpial,  if  not 
a  preponderating,  share  those  classes  which  the  ra})id  pro- 
gress of  trade  and  commerce  had  been  gradually  building 
up  into  a  governing  force  in  the  land.     The  aristocracy, 

171 


172  ETON    COLLEGE 

whose  privileges  were  thus  threatened,  was  fully  justified 
in  their  resistance,  tooth  and  nail,  to  the  spirit  of  reform, 
although  the  wiser  heads  among  them  perceived  that  the 
impending  changes  were  not  a  revolution  brought  about 
by  tyranny,  oppression,  rapacity  on  one  side  and  starva- 
tion and  despair  on  the  other,  as  in  France,  but  by  the 
gradual  movement  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  necessary 
expansion  of  a  nation  rapidly  increasing  in  intelligence 
and  prosperity.  It  is  significant  of  the  storm  and  stress 
of  the  time  that  the  greatest  reforms  should  have  been 
brought  about  by  aristocrats,  who  in  these  days  might 
have  been  called  Radicals,  like  Earl  Grey  and  Lord  John 
Russell,  and  representatives  of  the  commercial  middle 
class,  like  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  William  Ewart  Gladstone, 
who  began  their  political  careers  as  strong  Conservatives. 

It  was  not  likely  that  while  the  spirit  of  reform  was 
so  strongly  impregnating  society,  when  neither  Crown 
nor  Church  escaped  criticism,  that  so  strong  a  fortress 
of  aristocratic  Conservatism  as  Eton  should  remain  un- 
challenged by  the  foe.  The  press  was  rapidly  becoming 
a  potent  factor  in  social  as  well  as  political  life,  and  its 
increasing  cheapness  and  the  improved  facilities  of  circu- 
lation made  it  easy  for  the  world  at  large  to  pry  into 
the  most  sequestered  nests  of  supposed  abuses. 

The  defects  in  Eton  teaching  and  discipline,  not  so 
much  lamented  as  endured  by  the  school,  were  sheltered 
behind  the  sacred  and  inviolable  duties  assumed  by  the 
Provost  and  Fellows  of  observing  to  the  extreme  letter 
the  statutes  drawn  up  by  the  founder  four  hundred  years 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     173 

before.  As  early  as  1818  a  Royal  Commission  had  been 
obtained  by  Lord  Brougham,  in  his  capacity  as  educa- 
tional reformer  and  general  iconoclast,  nominally  to 
inquire  into  the  misuse  of  charities,  into  which  an  inquiry 
into  Eton  and  Winchester  had  been  introduced.  The 
attack  had  been  warded  off  by  the  general  conservatism 
of  Lord  Chancellor  Eldon  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  some 
twenty  years  or  more  later.  Another  gun  was  fired  by 
'  A  Parent "  in  '  Some  Remarks  on  the  present  Studies  and 
Management  of  Eton  School,'  a  pamphlet  which  quickly 
ran  through  several  editions.  Replies  followed,  and  the 
Quarterly  Revieio  for  August  1834  summed  up  the  situa- 
tion. Parents  were  alarmed,  and  the  numbei's  in  the 
school  began  to  decline,  falling  in  1836  as  low  as  444. 
Dr.  Keate,  though  inclined  to  reform,  was  not  fresh  or 
active  enough  to  combat  the  inflexible  attitude  of  the 
Provost.  Dr.  Hawtrey  saw  his  opportunities,  but  had  to 
wait  for  them,  until  the  death  of  Provost  Goodall  on 
March  25,  1840. 

No  person  could  help  admitting  that  the  attitude 
taken  up  by  Dr.  Goodall  was  in  many  ways  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  school.  Yet  it  is  not  difficult  to  feel 
some  sympathy  with  his  view.  To  him  and  to  his 
assistant-Fellows  Eton  College  was  a  sacred  institution, 
entrusted  to  their  care,  with  which  they  had  no  right 
to  interfere.  The  inner  working  or  economy  of  the 
College  was  a  mystery  known  only  to  the  Provost  and 
Fellows,  as  sacrosanct,  it  might  be  said,  as  the  worship 
of  Isis  in  ancient  Egypt.     Four  hundred  years  had  seen 


174  ETON    COLLEGE 

the  College  and  the  school  advancing  steadily  in  fame 
and  prosperity.  Most  of  the  greatest  names  in  English 
history  had  been  connected  with  the  school,  and  what 
was  good  enough  for  a  Walpole  or  a  Fox,  a  Wellesley 
or  a  Canning  not  unnaturally  seemed  likely  to  be  good 
enough  for  their  successors.  Its  defects  were  as  privi- 
leged as  those  of  the  Crown,  the  Church,  or  the  Houses 
of  Parliament.  To  allow  the  Head-master  to  initiate 
reforms  in  the  school,  would  be  to  abnegate  the  duties 
laid  upon  the  Provost  by  the  statutes  of  the  Founder. 
Secure,  therefore,  in  the  inviolable  dignity  of  his  post, 
Dr.  Goodall  returned  an  almost  papal  Non  Possumus 
to  the  ever-increasing  clamour  for  reform.  No  person 
ever  loved  Eton  better  than  Dr.  Goodall,  or  filled  the 
Head-master's  or  Provost's  chair  with  greater  dignity. 
But,  as  has  been  said  before,  it  was  the  dignity  of  the 
Grand  Monarqiie,  and  if  he  foresaw,  he  was  determined 
to  do  nothing  to  forestall  the  impending  revolution. 

Many  old  Etonians  expected  that  Dr.  Keate  would  be 
called  from  his  retirement  to  fill  the  post  of  Provost, 
vacated  by  Dr.  GoodalPs  death.  He  probably  expected 
it  himself.  Lord  Melbourne,  an  old  Etonian,  was  then 
Prime  Minister,  and  he  at  first  seemed  inclined  to  assert 
the  accustCmed  privilege  of  the  Crown  and  nominate  a 
scholarly  aristocrat,  the  Hon.  William  Herbert  (after- 
wards Dean  of  Manchester),  an  old  oppidan  friend  of  his 
own.  This  being,  however,  directly  contrary  to  the 
statutes,  which  enjoined  that  the  Provost  should  have 
been  educated  on  the  Foundation  at  Eton  or  at  King's, 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     175 

Lord  Melbourne,  to  the  surprise  of  most  people,  nomi- 
nated the  Rev.  Francis  Hodgson,  then  Archdeacon  of 
Derby,  who  had  been  a  Fellow  and  tutor  of  King's,  and 
for  a  few  months  in  1806  an  Assistant-master  at  Eton. 
Dr.  Hodgson  was,  however,  not  a  Doctor  of  Divinity. 
This  impediment  afforded  the  Fellows  an  opportunity 
for  exercising  their  constitutional  right  of  election,  and 
in  defiance  of  the  royal  mandate,  they  proceeded  them- 
selves to  elect  one  of  their  number,  John  Lonsdale,  to  be 
Provost.  Queen  Victoria,  however,  acting  under  the 
advice  of  Lord  Melbourne,  insisted  upon  the  right  of  the 
Crown  to  nominate  Dr.  Hodgson,  who  had  been  quickly 
admitted  to  the  requisite  degree.  Lonsdale  therefore, 
rather  than  court  the  royal  displeasure  for  the  College, 
declined  his  nomination,  and  the  Fellows  submitted  to 
the  royal  mandate. 

Dr.  Hodgson  was  chiefly  known  to  the  public  as  a 
writer  of  verse,  and  an  intimate  friend  and  correspondent 
of  Lord  Byron.  This  was  perhaps  sufficient  to  ])rejudice 
him  in  the  eyes  of  many  persons,  whose  estimate  of 
Byron's  genius  had  been  warped  by  the  greedy  gossip 
which  had  battened  on  the  scandals  of  Byron's  private 
life.  Dr.  Hodgson,  however,  quite  disappointed  the  best 
wishes  of  his  enemies,  and  proved  one  of  the  best  friends 
that  Eton  ever  had.  He  came  into  his  post  with  a  mind 
trained  and  refined  by  contact  with  the  outer  world, 
without  being  steeped  in  the  prejudices  and  traditions 
which  not  unnaturally  encrusted  the  life  of  any  one,  whose 
sole  progress  in    the  world  was  that  of   Eton  Colleger, 


176  ETON    COLLEGE 

scholar  of  King's,  Assistant-master,  Head-master,  and 
Provost  of  Eton.  His  love  for  Eton  was  not  less  than 
that  of  Dr.  Goodall,  and  it  is  well  known,  that  he  did 
not  accept  the  post  until  he  was  assured  that  there  was 
no  chance  of  it  being  offered  to  his  old  tutor,  Dr.  Keate. 
The  new  Provost  found  at  his  hand  a  Head-master  ready 
and  yearning  for  reform.  He  was  sagacious  enough  to 
see  that  much  harm  and  little  profit  had  accrued  to  the 
College  and  school  by  the  assumption  that  the  Head- 
master was  little  more  than  an  upper  servant  of  the 
Provost  and  Fellows.  It  was  quite  clear  that  the  College 
and  the  school  were  fast  becoming  distinct  organisms  and 
entities,  and  that,  without  relinquishing  any  rights  of 
government,  it  was  easy  for  the  Provost  to  confine  his 
actual  sphere  of  authority  to  the  precincts  of  the  College, 
and  to  delegate  to  the  Head-master  almost  supreme 
authority  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  discipline  and 
teaching  of  the  school.  The  condition  of  life  endured 
by  Collegers  on  the  Foundation  had  become  a  crying 
scandal.  Provost  Hodgson  therefore  directed  his  whole 
attention  to  reform  in  this  direction,  and  the  Head- 
master, Dr.  Hawtrey,  joyfully  accepted  the  license  to 
introduce  the  most  pressing  reforms  necessary  in  the 
school  outside. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  salutary  reforms  introduced 
by  Dr.  Hawtrey  was  perhaps  unconscious  on  his  part.  It 
lay  in  his  treating  the  boys  as  gentlemen,  and  not  driving 
or  dragooning  them  as  slaves,  as  Dr.  Keate  had  done.  It 
was  his  desire  to  encourage  boys  to  work,  and  in  view  of 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     177 

this  he  added  numbers  of  inducements  and  temptations  to 
work  by  increasing  the  small  list  of  possible  distinctions 
that  an  Eton  boy  could  gain.  He  at  once  abandoned  the 
attempt,  so  heroically  maintained  by  his  predecessor,  to 
teach  alone  about  two  hundred  boys  of  the  Fifth  Form 
from  the  desk,  at  the  northern  end  of  Upper  School.  He 
divided  the  Fifth  Form  into  divisions,  similar  to  those 
which  already  existed  in  the  Remove  and  Lower  School, 
and  withdrew  into  the  neighbouring  library  with  the 
Sixth  Form,  and  the  first  six  Collegers  and  first  six  oppi- 
dans in  the  Fifth  Form,  the  latter  twelve  being  hence- 
forth known  as  '  Liberty."'  This  room,  which  in  the 
time  of  Dr.  Keate  was  almost  solely  dedicated  to  the 
cult  of  the  birch,  Hawtrey  decorated  with  some  views 
of  Athens,  copies  of  the  Parthenon  frieze,  and  other 
archaeological  objects,  intended  to  afford  pleasant  mental 
recreation.  Abandoning  the  attempt  to  teach  in  person  to 
a  third  of  the  school  the  meaning  of  rvmo)  in  both  its 
active  and  its  passive  senses,  he  devoted  his  attention  to  a 
real  attempt  to  make  good  scholars  of  the  first  thirty- two 
boys  in  the  school.  Besides  a  better  distribution  of  the 
Assistant-masters,  he  increased  their  numbers,  and  always 
did  his  best  to  be  on  friendly  and  confidential  terms  with 
his  colleagues.  He  introduced  new  editions  of  the 
classics  in  place  of  the  almost  obsolete  '  Poctce  Grceci ""  and 
'  Scr'iptorcs  Romani,'  which  had  been  in  use  for  centuries. 
He  introduced  a  system  of  School  Trials,  whic-h  were  a 
real  test  of  a  boy's  industry  and  ca])acity,  and  enabled  a 
promising  boy  to  push  his  way  to  the  front. 


178  ETON    COLLEGE 

Dr.  Hawtrey's  most  serious  achievement  was  the  in- 
troduction of  the  study  of  mathematics  as  part  of  the 
curriculuyn  in  the  school.      Previous  to  his  time  mathe- 
matics had  been  taught,  or  rather  had  been  supposed  to 
have  been  taught,  in  the   school  by  one  Major  Hexter, 
who  had  inherited  the  monopoly  of  teaching  writing  and 
mathematics  in  the  school.     This  monopoly  Dr.  Hawtrey 
was  unable  to  disturb,  except  by  buying  out  Hexter  at  a 
cost  which  was  out  of  the  question,  so  invulnerable  was  a 
time-vested  interest  at  Eton  in  those  days.     He,  however, 
was  determined    to   amend    matters,  and    after   inviting 
William  Fuller  Boteler,  a  former  oppidan  at  Eton,  and 
thirteenth  wrangler  at  Cambridge  in  1833,  who  declined 
the   post,    he    persuaded    his   cousin,  the    Rev.    Stephen 
Hawtrey,  to  accept  the  post  of  mathematical  master  at 
Eton.     Stephen  Hawtrey  erected  at  his  own  expense  a 
circular  building,  containing  a  lecture-theatre,  at  the  end 
of  Keate's  Lane.     Neither  Hawtrey,  however,  was  power- 
ful enough  to  get  mathematics  introduced  into  the  regular 
curriculum.      It  still  remained  an  extra,  occupying  not 
more  than  three  hours  a  week,  with  a  little  work  thrown 
in  to  be  done  out  of  school  time.     Mr.  Stephen  Hawtrey 's 
assistants  were  not  placed  on  the  regular  staff,  but  only 
as  assistants  in  his  school,  employed  and  paid  by  him- 
self.   Various  other  inducements  were,  however,  offered  to 
boys  studying  mathematics.     In  1837  a  prize  was  insti- 
tuted by  the  Assistant-masters  for  proficiency  in  mathe- 
matics, and  a  second  prize  offered  by  the  mathematical 
masters.     The  Tomline  prize  was  founded  in  1837,  and 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     179 

nine  years  later  was  won  by  a  boy,  Norman  Macleod 
Ferrers,  who  was  senior  wrangler  at  Cambridge,  and  is 
at  the  present  day  Master  of  Caius  College.  An  attempt 
was  made  in  1849  to  introduce  the  study  of  physical 
science,  lectures  being  inaugurated  in  chemistry  and  astro- 
nomy by  competent  professors,  and  even  on  comparative 
anatomy.  The  same  fate  befell  modern  languages.  French 
had  been  taught  in  the  school  for  many  years,  but  only 
as  an  extra  out  of  play  hours.  A  German  master  appears 
in  the  list  of  extra  masters  for  1831,  but  appears  to 
have  been  as  little  employed  as  the  drawing-master, 
the  fencing-master,  or  the  dancing-master,  whose  names 
remained  on  the  list,  some  of  them  as  late  as  1860.  In 
1824  there  is  included  in  the  list  of  extra  masters 
a  teacher  of  Italian  and  Spanish.  A  real  incentive, 
however,  to  the  study  of  modern  languages  was  given  by 
the  foundation  of  three  prizes  for  French,  German,  and 
Italian,  given  by  H.R.H.  the  Prince  Consort.  French, 
German,  and  Italian  were,  however,  even  when  the  first 
language  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  family  of  Tarver, 
treated  for  many  years  to  come  almost  as  ohjeta  de  luxe. 
Eton  scholarship  had  received  a  very  great  impetus  from 
the  foundation  of  the  Newcastle  Scholarship  by  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle  in  1829.  Previous  to  this  the  only  prizes 
of  this  sort  were  those  founded  to  assist  superannuated 
Collegers,  who  were  unable  through  age  to  proceed  in  the 
regular  course  to  lKing"'s  College,  Cambridge.  All  other 
chances  of  distinction  depended  solely  on  a  boy's  skill  in 
doing  Greek  and  Latin  verses.     Dr.  Hawtrey  founded  in 


180  ETON    COLLEGE 

addition  an  English  Essay  Prize,  to  encourage  the  study 
of  EngHsh  literature  and  history.  Another  drastic  reform 
was  carried  out  when  the  Head-master  decided  that  all 
boys  in  future  were  to  be  entrusted  to  a  tutor  under  the 
ordinary  school  regulations.  Private  tutors  were  thus 
abolished,  except  in  the  cases  of  a  few  sons  of  peers,  who 
were  allowed  to  have  them  in  addition  to  their  regulation 
tutor,  the  private  tutor  being  responsible  to  the  parents  and 
not  to  the  Head-master.  It  must  be  noted  that  in  carrying 
out  these  reforms,  certainly  the  earlier  ones.  Dr.  Hawtrey 
consulted  Dr.  Keate,  who  informed  him  that  he  would  not 
have  had  the  courage  to  do  them  himself,  but  that  he 
highly  approved  of  them,  and  hoped  that  Dr.  Hawtrey 
would  get  the  fullest  credit  for  them. 

In  most  of  them  the  Head-master  obtained  a  free 
hand  from  the  new  Provost,  Dr.  Hodgson.  On  one  point, 
however,  the  Provost  was  obdurate,  which  was  when 
Hawtrey  wished  to  abolish  the  necessity  of  filling  up 
each  vacant  post  among  the  Assistant-masters  from 
Fellows  or  scholars  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.  Only 
exhaustion  of  material  had  enabled  Dr.  Keate  to  appoint 
as  Masters  Edward  Coleridge  and  E.  H.  Pickering, 
who  had  not  been  scholars  of  King's,  Dr.  Hawtrey 
wanted  to  appoint  Goldivin  Smith,  one  of  the  most 
famous  Eton  scholars  at  Oxford,  and  since  the  famous 
historian.  The  Provost,  however,  would  not  yield,  and 
the  opportunity  was  lost. 

Provost  Hodgson  was,  however,  at  the  same  time 
engaged  on  important  reforms  in  the  internal  life  of  the 


DR.    HODGSON   AND    DR.    HAWTREY     181 

boys  on  the  Foundation.  The  life  of  a  Colleger,  or  '  tug  ' 
(toffahis),  had  changed  little  for  the  better  since  the 
days  of  the  pious  Founder.  Indeed  it  might  be  said  to 
have  changed  for  the  worse,  inasmuch  as  the  arrange- 
ments made  by  Henry  VI.  were  amply  sufficient  for  the 
ideas  and  requirements  of  his  age,  but  were  singularly 
out  of  date,  and  it  would  have  been  thought  unendurable, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Up  to  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century  Long  Chamber  was  the 
dormitory  for  fifty-two  of  the  King's  scholars.  Three 
small  rooms  were  subsequently  added,  one  known  as  Lower 
Chamber,  on  the  ground  floor,  the  other  two  known  as 
Upper  Carter's  and  Lower  Carter's,  being  apparently 
part  of  the  Lower-Master's  rooms,  surrendered  or  let 
for  the  purpose  by  the  Lower-Master  of  that  name. 
The  beds,  plain  and  wooden,  were  arranged  in  rows  along 
the  walls  of  the  chamber.  Each  boy  had  a  bureau,  but 
chairs  and  tables  were  few  and  far  between.  Coverlets, 
with  the  arms  of  the  founder  and  the  (jueen,  were  given  by 
Provost  Bill  and  one  of  the  Fellows,  Matthew  Page,  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  In  or  about  1735,  William, 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  gave  a  set  of  handsome  green  rugs 
to  the  College,  which  were  laid  out  on  the  beds  on 
Election  Saturday,  on  which  occasion  the  floors  received 
a  temporary  polish  by  the  rough  and  ready  process  of 
rug-riding.  The  arrangements  for  ablution  were  of  the 
scantiest,  and  almost  wholly  inaccessible  to  the  smaller 
boys.  The  only  washhand-stand  for  them  was  the 
pump    in    Weston's  Yard.      The    sanitary   arrangements 


182  ETON    COLLEGE 

would  be  a  disgrace  to  a  temporary  barrack  at  the 
present  day.  Dinner  and  supper  were  the  only  meals 
provided  by  the  College,  mutton  being  the  only  meat, 
to  which  on  Sundays  plum-pudding  was  added,  and 
thin  beer  the  only  drink.  On  certain  occasions  the 
Collegers  were  allowed  refreshment  in  College  hall  at 
three  o''clock,  known  as  '  Bever.^  Breakfast  and  tea  were 
not  provided,  and  most  Collegers  hired  rooms  "  up  town  *" 
in  which  they  could  wash,  have  their  breakfast  and  tea, 
and  obtain  a  little  privacy  for  work.  The  only  clothes 
supplied  was  a  stuff  gown  apiece.  The  College  gates 
were  locked  every  night  at  eight  o'clock  throughout  the 
year,  but  as  the  schoolyard  gate  was  never  shut,  exercises 
and  food  for  supper  were  handed  in  usually  through 
the  windows  in  Lower  Chamber.  Within  College  the 
Sixth  Form  reigned  supreme,  the  Head-master  and 
Lower  Master  having  ceased  to  reside  in  College.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  the  smaller  boys,  when  brought  in 
close  contact  with  those  older  and  stronger  than  they, 
were  subjected  to  a  regular  course  of  bullying,  and 
fagging  in  College  would  perhaps  have  caused  surprise 
even  to  a  slave-driver  in  a  West  Indian  plantation.  The 
smaller  boys  had  many  of  the  discomforts  and  degrada- 
tions of  a  charity  school,  which  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  position  of  inferiority  which  they  occupied  in 
the  opinion  of  their  more  fortunate  comrades,  the 
oppidans.  Reminiscences  of  the  joys  and  discomforts 
of  College  life  are  to  be  found  in  various  books  by 
old  Etonians.     In  one  of  the  most  recent,  Eton   in  the 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     183 

Forties,  the  author,  Arthur  Duke  Coleridge,  togatorum 
togatissirmis,  endeavours  to  make  out  that,  rough  as  a 
small  Colleger's  life  might  be,  he  still  managed  "  to 
snatch  a  fearful  joy'';  but  allowance  must  be  made  for 
an  enthusiast.  The  reminiscences  of  an  '  Old  Colleger ' 
tell  the  same  tale.^ 

The  election,  too,  of  King's  scholars,  so  elaborately 
sketched  out  by  the  founder,  had  become  a  mere  farce. 
The  old  solemnities  were  observed.  The  Provost  of 
King's  drove  up  in  his  yellow  coach,  accompanied  by 
two  examiners  or  pnser.s.,  and  was  met  at  the  College 
gate  by  his  brother  of  Eton  in  a  fraternal  embrace, 
while  the  captain  of  the  school  welcomed  him  with  a 
Latin  oration.  They  were  lodged  in  the  chambers  between 
the  Provost's  lodge  and  the  hall,  where  linen  sheets, 
at  first  an  extraordinary  luxury,  were  provided  for  them. 
The  munificent  sum  of  five  shillings  was  "distributed 
among  them "  for  their  trouble.  It  is  evident  that  the 
posers  derived  some  material  benefit  from  this,  for  it 
is  recorded  that  in  1562  Matthew  Chalfont  of  King's, 
"because  he  might  not  be  Poser,  forsook  the  College 
and  died  miserably."  The  examination  of  candidates 
became  a  mere  form,  and  the  electors  really  nominated 
the  candidates  in  the  order  of  their  seniority.  Preference 
was  naturally  given   to  the  sons  of  Fellows  or  Masters, 

'  It  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  the  well-known  sobriquet  of  '  tug,' 
as  applied  to  an  Eton  Colleger,  is  an  abbreviation  of  the  word  toyatus, 
in  an  allusion  to  the  gown  worn  by  Collegers,  or  merely  an  abbre- 
viation of  the  nickname  '  Tug-Mutton,'  in  allusion  to  the  roughness  of 
their  diet  in  hall. 


184  ETON    COLLEGE 

or  other  persons  nearly  connected  with  the  College,  so 
that  the  whole  Foundation  became  a  private  preserve.  A 
curious  custom  prevailed  in  more  recent  days,  whereby 
each  poser  adopted  a  Colleger  as  his  '  child,'  and  gave 
him  two  guineas.  Each  '  child '  in  his  turn  adopted  a 
small  Colleger  as  '  grandchild,' and  gave  him  five  shillings. 
Posers,  children,  and  grandchildren  then  all  partook  of 
a  hearty  breakfast  in  the  College  hall,  provided  by  the 
College  gardener,  the  expense  being  defrayed  by  the 
'  children.''  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  '  children  "■ 
and  '  grandchildren '  were  not  without  preferential  claims, 
when  the  elections  to  King's  were  in  progress. 

With  all  these  drawbacks  and  hardships  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  numbers  on  the  Foundation  were 
seldom  complete,  sometimes  barely  half  so,  and  the 
boys,  liberalis  ing-enii  et  egreg'icc  indolis,  who  every  year 
were  publicly  invited  to  compete,  were  often  conspicuous 
by  their  absence. 

The  King's  scholars,  moreover,  proceeded  to  King's 
College,  Cambridge,  by  seniority  in  regular  rotation,  and 
not  by  competition.  The  number  of  vacancies  was  liable 
to  vary  from  none  to  eight,  and  a  Colleger  might  un- 
expectedly find  himself  superannuated,  and  obliged  to 
find  a  home  elsewhere  in  one  or  other  of  the  Universities. 
The  first  step  taken  by  Provost  Hodgson  was  to  increase 
the  accommodation  in  College.  A  connnittee  was  ap- 
pointed under  the  chairmanship  of  Lord  Lyttelton  to 
raise  funds,  and  in  June  1844  the  foundation-stone  of 
a  new  wing  on  the  site  of  the  College  stable  in  Weston's 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     185 

Yard  was  laid  by  the  Prince  Consort.  In  this  wing, 
completed  in  1846,  forty-nine  Collegers  could  be  accom- 
modated with  separate  rooms,  while  the  Long  Chamber 
was  partially  divided  off  into  cubicles  to  accommodate 
the  rest.  A  proper  staff  of  servants  and  a  matron  were 
engaged,  a  sickroom  added,  breakfast  and  tea  provided 
in  College,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  arrangements 
were  made  similar  to  those  of  the  boarding-houses  for 
the  oppidans.  This  reform  was  crowned  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Master  to  reside  in  College  in  place  of  the 
Head-master  and  Lower-Master,  who  had  ceased  to  reside 
there  in  open  defiance  of  the  founder's  statutes.  The 
boys  on  the  Foundation  had  been  thereby  exposed  to  the 
taunt  of  being  a  race  of  young  and  not  over-cleanly 
monks,  without  a  particle  of  monastic  discipline.  The 
first  man  to  undertake  this  duty  was  Dr.  (afterwards 
Bishop)  Abraham.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the 
number  of  candidates  for  College  increased  rapidly,  and 
soon  exceeded  the  number  necessary  to  fill  the  vacancies. 

Among  the  other  reforms  carried  out  by  the  Provost 
and  Head-master  were  a  completely  new  system  of  drain- 
age, without  however  dispensing  with  the  great  sewer, 
built  in  accordance  with  the  Founder's  '  intention ' ;  and 
the  building:  of  a  sanatorium  on  the  Fton  Wick  Road  for 
cases  of  scarlet  fever,  the  expenses  of  which  were  defrayed 
by  an  annual  poll-tax  on  the  oppidans.  New  houses  were 
built  for  the  Assistant-masters,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
Dr.  Hawtrey  accomplished  a  successful  crusade  against 
what  he  called  "  the  great  evil  of  the  Christopher  Inn." 


186  ETON    COLLEGE 

The  fact  of  the  existence  of  a  public  hostelry  and  tap- 
room in  the  heart  of  College  was  in  itself  a  patent  danger 
to  school  discipline.  Its  removal,  however,  was  rendered 
easier,  since  the  advent  of  the  railway  had  made  it  possible 
for  parents  to  come  down  to  Eton  to  see  their  sons,  and 
return  the  same  day  without  any  very  great  expenditure 
of  time  or  need  for  accommodation. 

The  chapel  also  underwent  extensive  renovations. 
Gothic  architecture  was  all  the  rage,  and  when  the  hand 
of  the  restorer  was  let  loose,  the  whole  of  the  old  panel- 
ling of  the  Wren  period  was  removed,  and  the  interior 
decorated  with  a  series  of  Gothic  wooden  canopied  stalls, 
with  seats  to  match,  of  a  very  modern  and  commercial 
type.  Altar,  altar-rails,  and  pulpit  were  all  erected  in 
the  same  style.  The  pews  for  the  servants  and  parish- 
ioners were  done  away  with,  and  the  Sixth  Form  and  the 
young  sprigs  of  nobility  dethroned  from  the  seat  of  the 
scornful. 

A  desire  was  felt  to  fill  the  great  windows  with 
stained  glass  in  imitation  of  the  great  historic  windows 
of  the  sister  chapel  at  King^s  College,  Cambridge.  The 
great  east  window  was  first  commenced,  and  a  subscription 
levied  among  the  boys,  at  first  voluntary,  afterwards  com- 
pulsory, the  window  being  completed  piecemeal  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  of  money  in  hand.  The  most  eastern 
windows  on  the  north  side  were  filled  with  stained 
glass  at  the  cost  of  the  Assistant-masters  and  of  the  Rev, 
William  Adolphus  Carter  (now  Bursar).  The  remaining 
windows  were   completed  a  few  years  later  by  the  Rev. 


THE   OLD    •■  LiiKlalol  iihk        i.s.N. 
From  an  old  Engraving. 


Tofixce  f:  1 86. 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     187 

John  Wilder  (Fellow,  and  afterwards  Vice-Provost),  in 
memory  of  his  brother,  Charles  Wilder.  Few  greater 
opportunities  have  ever  been  offered  to  the  exponents  of 
glass-painting  among  the  artists.  Few  opportunities 
have  been  worse  used.  Glass-painting  was  unfortu- 
nately at  its  worst,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  redeeming 
word  to  be  said  for  the  stained-glass  windows  in  Eton 
Chapel.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  they  contain  nothing 
dogmatical  enough  for  any  reformer,  ritualistic  or 
Protestant,  to  have  an  excuse  for  removing  them. 

The  old  organ  screen  was  ])ulled  down,  and  the  organ 
at  first  erected  half-way  up  the  chapel  on  the  south  side. 
The  west  window  of  the  choir  was  thereby  uncovered 
and  filled  with  stained  glass  at  the  expense  of  the  Rev. 
Edward  Coleridge,  AVhen  the  panelling  was  removed, 
there  were  discovered  under  the  whitewash  on  the  walls 
the  old  frescoes,  which  had  been  covered  up  by  Provost 
Bill  early  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  These  frescoes 
were  among  some  of  the  most  important  monuments  of 
early  English  painting.  Little  attention,  however,  was 
paid  to  them,  and  the  clerk  of  the  works  proceeded  to 
obliterate  them  as  ugly,  superstitious,  and  very  much 
in  the  way  of  his  design.  In  spite  of  the  protests  of 
the  Prince  Consort  and  other  lovers  of  the  arts,  they  were 
ruined  and  covered  up,  and  can  only  now  be  recalled  by 
two  or  three  sets  of  drawings  made  at  the  time. 

The  ante-chapel  was  also  redecorated  by  ])rivate  sub- 
scription, though  mainly  at  the  cost  of  Mr.  AVilder.  A 
font  was  added,  given   by  the   King's  scholars   to  com- 


188  ETON    COLLEGE 

memorate  Bishop  Abraham  and  his  services  to  them. 
After  Dr.  Goodairs  death,  a  life-size  marble  seated  statue 
was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  ante-chapel. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  these  '  improvements '  were 
wholly  worthy  of  their  name,  and  the  '  Grecian '  panel- 
ling may  have  been  something  better  than  the  cheap 
and  pretentious  Gothic  introduced.  The  ponderous 
reredos  may  have  been  an  eyesore,  but  it  must  have 
been  more  effective  than  the  bare  and  feeble  decora- 
tions, which  were  all  that  Provost  Hodgson  would  permit 
at  the  east  end.  The  old  brasses,  some  of  gi'eat  his- 
torical interest,  were  torn  up  from  their  matrices  on 
the  pavement  and  fixed  here  and  there  on  the  walls, 
mended  and  repaired  in  careless  haste.  In  one  case 
certainly,  that  of  the  brass  of  Provost  Bost,  the  arms 
were  wrongly  repaired,  and  the  error  transcribed  and  re- 
peated in  the  ugly  heraldic  window  erected  in  Lupton's 
Chapel.  Would  that  the  reformer's  hand  could  have 
been  stayed  for  some  twenty  years  or  more  ! 

The  servants  and  parishioners,  then  evicted  from  the 
College  chapel,  which  it  must  be  remembered  was  still 
the  parish  church  of  Eton,  were  accommodated  in  a 
chapel  of  ease  built  in  the  town  of  Eton. 

Provost  Hodgson  also  added  greatly  to  the  dignity 
and  general  appearance  of  Upper  School  by  adding  busts 
of  eminent  Etonians,  some  presented  by  themselves,  others 
by  friends  or  by  subscription.  The  panelling  of  Upper 
School  had  by  this  time  already  been  rendered  historical 
through  the  names  of  Etonians  which  had  been  cut  upon 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     189 

it.  This  practice  of  cutting  the  names  of  Etonians  seems 
to  have  originated  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the 
names  of  the  scholars  electetl  for  King's  were  carved  in 
Lower  School.  Pepys  in  1666  mentions  "  the  custom 
pretty  of  boys  cutting  their  names  in  the  struts  of  the 
window  when  they  go  to  Canibiidge,  by  which  many  a 
one  hath  lived  to  see  himself  Provost  or  Fellow,  that 
had  his  name  in  the  window  standing.""  The  practice 
quickly  spread  to  the  new  panelled  walls  of  Upper 
School,  a  treasure-house  of  famous  names,  and  is  now 
regulated  by  the  payment  of  a  regular  fee  for  the 
insurance  of  this  kind  of  immortality. 

The  most  remarkable,  however,  and  the  one  which 
excited  the  most  widespread  attention,  of  the  reforms 
carried  out  by  Provost  Hodgson  and  Dr.  Hawtrey  was 
the  abolition  of  Montem,  one  of  the  most  peculiar  as 
well  as  the  most  time-honoured  customs  in  the  school. 
In  Malini"'s  Consuctnd'nun-hiin  drawn  up  in  1561,  there 
occurs  a  passage  describing  how,  on  a  certain  day  towards 
the  end  of  January,  near  the  Feast  of  the  Conversion  of 
St.  Paul,  the  boys  went  out  in  procession  at  nine  a.m.  to 
Salt  Hill,  where  "they  dedicate  the  retreat  to  Apollo 
and  the  Muses,  they  celebrate  it  in  song,  call  it  Tempe, 
and  extol  it  above  Helicon."  The  novices  were  sprinkletl 
with  salt,  and  then  addressed  in  witty  verses,  epigrams, 
&c.,  ending  with  a  kind  of  initiation  into  good  fellow- 
ship. The  boys  then  returned  at  five  oV-lock  and  were 
allowed  to  play  till  eight. 

This  is  the   earliest  account  of  this    famous   ainuial 


190  ETON    COLLEGE 

procession  'Ad  Montem.'  Its  origin  is  lost  in  mystery. 
The  idea  of  its  connection  with  the  rites  of  the  Boy 
Bishop  cannot  be  sustained.  An  examination  of  Mahm's 
original  I^atin  text  shows  that  a  number  of  Roman 
military  terms  were  employed,  and  the  whole  festival 
would  appear  to  be  a  survival,  in  a  somewhat  rudi- 
mentary form,  of  some  Roman  secular  function.  A  some- 
what similar  function  at  Winchester,  known  as  '  Hills,' 
is  doubtless  due  to  the  same  origin. 

The  history  of  '  Montem '  is  somewhat  of  a  blank 
until  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  by  which  time  the 
real  salt  and  epigrams  of  the  old  time  had  been  re- 
duced to  a  pinch  of  salt  being  offered  to  visitors  in 
return  for  a  donation  of  money.  Later  on  the  salt  was 
changed  into  tickets  inscribed  "Mos  pro  Lege,"  "Pro 
More  et  Monte,"  or  other  suitable  proverbs,  though 
the  name  'salt'  was  retained.  The  money  collected  as 
'salt'  was  given  to  the  captain  of  the  school,  in  order 
to  maintain  him  at  Cambridge.  Two  salt-bearers  and 
twelve  servitors  in  fancy  dresses  ran  about  the  roads 
levying  their  '  salt '  on  every  comer  from  king  to  cot- 
tager. The  rest  of  the  school  marched  in  military 
uniforms,  the  smaller  boys  acting  as  'pole-men.' 

In  1758  the  day  for  '  Montem '  was  transferred  to  the 
summer  half  on  Whitsun- Tuesday,  and  the  boys  were 
allowed  to  wear  their  Montem  dresses  for  the  rest  of  the 
half.  From  1778  onwards,  Montem  occurred  every  three 
years.  Feasting  and  revelry  characterised  the  rest  of 
the  proceedings.     '  Montem '  was  an   unique    institution 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     191 

quite  peculiar  to  Eton.  As  such  it  was  beloved  and 
cherished  by  past  and  present  Etonians,  as  perhaps  the 
greatest  event  of  their  youth.  Kings  and  the  royal  family 
constantly  attended,  and  were  duly  'held  up'  for  salt, 
from  William  III.  to  the  late  Prince  Consort.  Visitors 
came  from  all  parts  of  FiUgland  in  chaises  and  chariots 
or  on  horseback,  and  all  had  to  pay  their  salt.  As 
much  as  <£*1250  was  collected  on  one  occasion,  and  the 
amount  several  times  reached  cflOOO.  Even  outsiders 
caught  the  enthusiasm  for  the  "  no-meaning  of  Montem." 
Charles  Knight,  in  the  Quarterly  Magazine  (i.  197-8), 
says  that  "  I  love  the  crush  in  the  cloisters  and  the  mob 
on  the  Mount.  I  love  the  clatter  of  carriages  and  the 
plunging  of  horsemen.  I  love  the  universal  gaiety,  from 
the  peer,  who  smiles  and  sighs  that  he  is  no  longer  an 
Eton  boy,  to  the  country  girl  who  marvels  that  such 
little  gentlemen  have  cocked  hats  and  real  swords.  Give 
me  a  Montem  with  all  its  tomfoolery — I  had  almost 
said  before  a  coronation — and  even  without  the  aids  of 
a  Perigord  pie  and  a  bottle  of  claret  at  the  Windmill."" 

But  all  good  things  must  have  their  day.  '  Montem  ' 
was  a  serious  breach  in  the  course  of  studies  during  the 
summer,  and  fairly  demoralised  the  school.  It  was  also 
a  doubtful  blessing  for  the  captain  of  the  school  to 
have  his  pockets  so  well  lined  on  first  going  up  to  the 
University.  The  festival  had  become  the  cause  of  ex- 
travagant and  unnecessary  expense.  Last,  but  not  least, 
the  new  railway  brought  down  a  large  and  promiscuous 
horde   of   sightseers,  whose  •  presence   was   anything    but 


192  ETON    COLLEGE 

beneficial  to  the  festival  or  to  the  school.  Certain 
changes  in  the  times  and  hoin\s  in  1844  proved  of  no 
efficacy.  At  last,  in  October  1846,  Dr.  Hawtrey,  sup- 
ported by  Dr.  Okes,  intimated  to  the  Provost  his  opinion 
as  to  the  advisability  of  abolishing  '  Montem."*  The 
Provost  was  ready  to  meet  them  half-way,  and,  indeed, 
held  stronger  views  on  the  subject  than  Dr.  Hawtrey 
himself.  As  a  man  of  the  world  and  a  courtier  he  did 
not  take  such  a  step  without  obtaining  the  consent  of 
Her  Majesty  the  Queen  and  Prince  Albert,  who,  not 
liking  to  part  with  so  old  a  custom  in  which  they 
had  taken  much  pleasure,  referred  the  matter  to  the 
Prime  Minister,  Lord  John  Russell.  He  ascertained  that 
the  opinion  of  the  outer  world  was  in  favour  of  the 
abolition  of '  Montem.""  One  distinguished  Etonian  even 
went  so  far  as  to  term  it  an  "  old  and  scandalous  nuis- 
ance." The  'Montem"'for  1847  in  consequence  did  not 
take  place.  A  few  slight  attempts  at  disturbance  took 
place  in  the  school,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  loyalty 
was  only  skin-deep.  Dr.  Hawtrey "'s  popularity  was  un- 
shaken, and  in  a  year  or  two  the  interesting  old  festival 
had  become  a  matter  of  ancient  history. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  even  in  a  sketch  like  this 
book  in  which  so  many  details  must  be  wanting,  that 
the  Head-master  gave  cP200  out  of  his  own  pocket  to- 
wards the  expenses  at  Cambridge  of  the  boy  who  would 
have,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  been  captain  of 
Montem.  There  are  still  many  living  who  took  part 
in  the  Montems  of  1841  and  1844,  if  not  at  an  earlier 


DR.    HODGSON    AND    DR.    HAWTREY     193 

date.  Some  interesting  pictures  remain  to  preserve  a 
record  of  the  costumes  and  ceremonies.  A  procession 
of  boys  in  '  Montem ''  dress,  painted  about  1793  by 
R.  Livesay,  was  presented  to  the  boys'  library  in  1891 
by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Two  interesting  drawings 
of  Montem  were  made  by  C.  Turner  for  the  Rev.  John 
Wilder  in  1820,  when  he  was  captain.  Another  pair 
of  drawings,  made  in  1841  by  AVilliam  Evans  for  Mr. 
Smyth-Pigott,  now  belong  to  Viscount  liraybrooke,  and 
are  familiar  from  engravings.  In  this  year  the  captain 
was  Edxcard  Thnng\  afterwards  so  well  known  as  Head- 
master of  Uppingham  School,  and  for  his  share  in  the 
educational  development  of  the  country. 


IX 

REFORMS   AT   ETON 

The  abolition  of '  Montem  "*  may  be  considered  to  be  the 
last  of  the  reforms  carried  out  at  Eton  by  Dr.  Hodgson, 
the  Provost,  and  Dr.  Hawtrey,  the  Head -master.  Dr. 
Hawtrey's  whole  life  as  a  Master  at  Eton  was  devoted 
to  a  policy  of  improving  the  education  of  the  boys,  en- 
couraging and  giving  them  inducements  to  learn,  trying 
to  gain  their  confidence  by  sympathy,  generosity,  and 
that  combination  of  severity  with  consideration  and 
reasoning,  which  is  the  most  likely  to  carry  weight  with 
boys.  He  saw  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  for  education  of 
all  classes  in  England.  Instead  of  closing  his  shutters 
upon  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  he  welcomed  its  warmth ; 
and  if  the  light  somewhat  cruelly  revealed  the  dusty 
corners  and  cobwebs  in  the  fabric  of  Eton,  he  did  his 
best  to  clear  up  all  the  reproaches  which  were  within 
his  immediate  reach.  It  is  not  surprising  that  after 
more  than  thirty  years  of  work  his  energies  somewhat 
relaxed,  and  the  school  suffered  a  little  accordingly. 
This  was,  however,  more  a  natural  sign  of  exhausted 
vitality  in  the  Head-master  than  of  retarded  progress 
in  the  school,  and  must  always  be  liable  to  occur  to 
any    individual    who    has    to    maintain    a    post    of    an 

191 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  195 

exceptionally  trying  nature  for  a  number  of  years  exceed- 
ing his  strength.  Apart  from  a  few  eccentricities  of 
speech,  costume,  and  demeanour,  a  few  foibles  of  poetry 
and  culture,  there  was  nothing  in  the  life  and  character 
of  Dr.  Hawtrey  which  does  not  command  the  gratitude 
and  respect  of  every  subsequent  Etonian.  In  1850  it 
seemed  probable  that  Dr.  Hawtrey  would  be  elected  to 
the  vacant  Provostship  of  King's,  but  other  counsels 
prevailed  at  Cambridge,  and  it  was  perhaps  a  source 
of  some  mortification  to  him  that  the  Lower-master  of 
Eton,  Dr.  Richard  Okes,  was  chosen  over  his  head. 
Provost  Hodgson,  however,  died  in  1852,  and  omnium 
consensu  Dr.  Hawtrey  was  elected  to  the  post.  It  is 
interesting  to  find  that  on  this  occasion  also  the  Fellows 
did  not  omit  to  assert  their  right  of  election.  Although 
they  were  in  full  agreement  with  the  Crown  as  to  the 
election  of  Dr.  Hawtrey,  they  seized  the  opportunity, 
caused  by  an  accidental  delay  in  the  delivery  of  the 
royal  mandate,  to  assemble  in  the  chapel  and  elect 
Dr.  Hawtrey  upon  their  own  account. 

Dr.  Hawtrey  was  succeeded  by  one  of  the  Assistant- 
masters,  Charles  Old  Goodford  (1830),  a  man  of  a  good 
Somersetshire  family,  who  had  for  long  had  one  of  the 
principal  boarding-houses  in  Eton.  Had  he  not  come  im- 
mediately after  Dr.  Hawtrey,  Dr.  Goodford  would  perhaps 
have  been  regarded  as  a  considerable  reformer,  and  gained 
some  repute  as  a  Head-master.  He  introduced  several 
valuable  and  salutary  changes  into  the  management  of 
the  school,  such    as    the  admission    of  former  oppidans 


196  ETON    COLLEGE 

to  be  Assistant-masters,  the  institution  of  an  '  Army- 
class  **  to  aid  boys  to  proceed  from  Eton  direct  to 
commissions  in  the  army,  the  introduction  of  a  further 
form  of  reHgious  instruction,  in  the  shape  of  work  to 
be  done  on  Sundays,  out  of  school,  known  as  '  Sunday 
Questions,"  and  other  similar  innovations.  He  further 
subdivided  the  work  of  the  Fifth  Form,  and  increased  the 
opportunities  of  the  upper  boys  to  go  ahead  with  their 
scholarships.  Dr.  Goodford  was  keenly  interested  in  the 
development  of  athletic  sports,  though  he  abolished  or 
discouraged  several  pernicious  customs  which  had  become 
traditional  in  connection  with  them.  In  most  of  the 
reforms  introduced  by  Dr.  Goodford,  the  Provost  con- 
curred gladly,  but  the  corrupting  atmosphere  of  the 
Provosfs  Lodge  had  already  begun  to  influence  his  mind, 
and  the  reactionary  Head-master  of  yore  became  almost 
as  stiff  and  unbending  an  opponent  of  further  reform,  as 
Provost  Goodall  had  been  before. 

Educational  reform  had,  however,  become  a  popular 
cry,  and  the  attention  of  the  public  had  been  drawn  to 
the  great  public  schools.  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold,  the  Head- 
master of  Rugby  School,  had  found  the  quasi-Etonian 
system,  inaugurated  by  Dr.  James,  in  a  very  rusty  con- 
dition. By  exercising  a  very  strong  personal  influence, 
he  not  only  imparted  fresh  life  to  the  teaching  and 
discipline  of  Rugby,  but  he  was  able  to  stimulate  and 
mould  the  minds  of  an  exceptionally  gifted  circle  of 
pupils.  Chiefly  through  them,  rather  than  through  any 
actual  or  conspicuous  success  as  a  school  administrator, 


For  Chaki-hs  Olp  Goodford,  read  Edward  Craven  Hawtrrv,  D.D., 
on  illustration  facing  p.  196. 


CHARLtS   OI.U   GUOUKORD,    U.l'. 
From  a  Fhotograph, 


Tofactf".  196. 


REFORMS    AT   ETON  197 

Dr.  Arnold  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  great  public 
school  reformer  of  his  day,  and  as  such  his  name 
earned  great  weight  with  public  opinion.  Another 
great  power  among  the  public  schools  had  been  Dr. 
Samuel  Butler,  Head-master  of  Shrewsbury  School  from 
1798  to  1836.  Dr.  Butler  had  created  at  Shrews- 
bury a  school  of  the  most  perfect  classical  scholar- 
ship, in  which  he  was  most  worthily  succeeded  by  his 
pupil,  Dr.  Benjamin  Hall  Kennedy.  Rugby  for  morals 
and  Shrewsbury  for  scholarship  were  quoted  by  all  those 
who  were  aggrieved  or  disappointed  by  Eton.  With 
regard  to  Dr.  Arnold,  Eton  was  curiously  free  from 
any  sort  of  influence  derived  from  his  reforms  at  Rugby. 
Most  of  them,  which  related  to  the  boys  themselves,  were 
existent,  if  not  strictly  enforced  at  Eton.  Eton  scholar- 
ship perhaps  had  declined  in  comparison  to  the  rise  of 
Shrewsbury  in  this  particular,  but  could  still  hold  its 
own  in  the  prize  examinations  at  the  Universities.  The 
original  impulse  to  reform  in  the  Eton  system  of  teaching 
came  from  an  old  Etonian,  Sir  John  Taylor  Coleridge, 
Justice  of  the  King^s  Bench.  Coleridge  was  one  of  a 
family  closely  connected  with  Eton.  His  brother,  Edivard 
Coleridge,  was  one  of  the  Assistant-masters,  afterwards 
Lower-master  and  Fellow,  and  always  zealous  in  the 
cause  of  reform.  Another  brother,  Henri/  Nehv}i  Cole- 
ridge (1817),  Fellow  of  King's,  inherited  a  taste  for  poetry 
from  his  uncle,  the  famous  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  whose 
daughter,  Sara,  he  married.  Their  son,  Herbert  Coleridge^ 
was  Newcastle  Scholar  in  IS-iS.     Henry  James  Coleridge^ 


198  ETON    COLLEGE 

a  fine  scholar,  joined  the  Church  of  Rome.  Another 
member  of  the  family,  Arthur  Duke  Coleridge,  was  author 
of  a  work  on  Eton  already  refeiTcd  to.  Sir  John  Taylor 
Coleridge's  fame  has  been  rather  overshadowed  by  that 
of  his  more  famous  son,  Sir  John  Duke  Coleridge,  lately 
Lord  Chief-Justice  of  England,  and  created  a  peer. 
It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  the  Justice  of 
the  King's  Bench  was  not  the  equal  in  every  point  of 
the  future  Chief-Justice.  Coleridge  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Dr.  Arnold,  and  also  of  John  Keble  at  Oxford, 
and  was  imbued  by  them  with  a  deep  desire  for  educa- 
tional regeneration  at  Eton.  In  1860  he  delivered  a 
lecture  at  the  Athenaeum  in  Tiverton,  in  which  he 
expressed  his  feelings  somewhat  strongly  upon  the  defects 
of  the  Eton  system.  His  words  went  further  than  he 
probably  intended.  In  1861  a  less  fi'iendly  critic,  though 
also  an  Etonian,  passed  much  more  severe  strictures  in 
a  series  of  articles,  published  in  the  Cornhill  Magazine, 
under  the  name  '  Pater  Familias."  '  Pater  Familias  ' 
turned  out  to  be  a  well-known  journalist  and  pamphleteer, 
Matthew  James  Higgins,  a  genial  giant  with  a  powerful 
if  venomous  pen,  who  had  been  himself,  though  for  but 
a  short  time,  a  boy  at  Eton. 

Public  opinion  was  considerably  excited  upon  the 
question.  Unfavourable  comments  were  freely  made 
upon  Eton  as  compared  with  Rugby  and  Shrewsbury, 
or  with  the  more  newly  founded  public  schools,  such 
as  Marlborough  and  Cheltenham,  where,  as  it  was  alleged, 
a  much  better  education   could  be  obtained  at  a  much 


REFORMS    AT   ETON  199 

less  cost.  Henry  Reeve,  the  editor  of  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  attack,  and  in  April 
1861  he  wrote  or  promoted  an  article  in  his  niat^azine, 
following  the  lead  given  hy  Higgins  in  the  CornMll. 
Writing  to  Lord  Brougham,  Eton's  ancient  enemy,  Reeve 
speaks  of  having  "  in  preparation  a  regular  mine  under 
Eton  College,"  and  says  "that  the  de})redations  of  the 
Fellows  go  on  with  shameless  audacity."  Brougham  re- 
plied that  "  the  conduct  at  Eton  is  perfectly  scandalous," 
and  complained  that  his  two  boys  never  cost  less  than 
oC200  a  year  while  they  were  there.  Eventually  a  Royal 
Commission  was  appointed  in  July  1861,  ostensibly  to 
inquire  into  the  working  of  the  nine  chief  public  schools, 
but  with  the  obvious  intention  of  subjecting  P^ton  to  the 
most  assiduous  and  searching  criticism.  The  nine  schools 
were  Eton,  Winchester,  Westminster,  Charterhouse,  St. 
PauFs,  Merchant  Taylor's,  Harrow,  Rugby,  Shrewsbury. 
The  Commissioners  were  the  Earl  of  Clarendon  (chair- 
man), the  Earl  of  Devon,  Lord  Lyttelton,  the  Hon. 
Edward  Boyd  Twisleton,  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  Rev. 
William  Hepworth  Thompson,  and  Mr.  Henry  Halford 
Vaughan.  These  names  were  hardly  encouraging  for  the 
prospect  of  Eton  emerging  intact  from  their  examination. 
Only  two  of  the  Commissioners  were  Etonians.  Gcorgr, 
J'ourth  Baron  Lyttelton  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
Etonians,  and  had  just  inaugurated  a  succession  of  eight 
sons,  who  were  destined  to  exercise  a  more  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  general  character  of  the  school  than 
any    Royal    Commissions    or    Public    Schools    Act    could 


200  ETON    COLLEGE 

achieve.  Lord  Lyttelton  was,  however,  somewhat  of  a 
doctrinaire,  and  to  some  degree,  especially  in  aspect, 
lacking  in  genial  sympathy.  Throughout  life  moreover  he 
was  guided  by  a  high  sense  of  moral  and  religious  rectitude, 
which  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  tolerate  abuses,  real  or 
imaginary,  no  matter  how  near  to  his  heart  a  person  or  an 
institution  might  be.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  (afterwards 
Earl  of  Iddesleigh)  was  a  painstaking,  not  particularly 
brilliant,  politician  and  Devonshire  squire.  He  has  been 
described  as  '  eminently  cautious '  by  Lord  Salisbury,  and 
by  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  "  a  man  in  whom  it  was  the  fixed 
habit  of  thought  to  put  himself  wholly  out  of  view  when 
he  had  before  him  the  attainment  of  great  public  objects." 
It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  Lord  Lyttelton  and  Sir 
Stafford  Northcote  would  be  strenuous  champions  of  Eton 
in  her  hour  of  need.  Of  the  other  Commissioners,  Lord 
Clarendon  had  not  been  to  any  public  school,  but  more 
than  that  he  was  strongly  prejudiced  against  Eton,  as 
appears  from  a  letter  to  Henry  Reeve,  in  which  he  spoke 
of  the  Eton  article  as  unanswerable,  and  the  Commission 
as  the  proper  corollary  to  it  "  as  so  many  parents  of  ill- 
educated  boys  appear  to  think " ;  Mr.  Twisleton  was  a 
Civil  Service  Commissioner,  nurtured  therefore  on  red-tape 
and  sealing-wax;  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Thompson,  afterwards 
the  well-known  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
was  one  of  the  most  fastidious  and  merciless  of  critics, 
especially  when  matters  of  scholarship  or  college  admini- 
stration were  concerned ;  and  Mr.  Halford  V'aughan  was 
a  keen  lawyer  and  a  professor  of  history  to  boot,  to  whom, 


REFORMS    AT   ETON  201 

as  behoved  his  profession,  defects  and  flaws  in  an  insti- 
tution were  pleasing  food  for  the  mind  of  an  active  theorist 
and  progressive  reformer.  It  was  before  such  a  tribunal, 
therefore,  that  the  Provost,  Fellows,  and  Head-master  of 
Eton  College  were  bound  over  to  stand  up  and  answer  for 
their  sins. 

Provost  Hawtrey  felt  the  situation  deeply.  His  last 
speech  at  the  banquet  on  Founder's  Day,  December  6, 
1861,  was  mainly  devoted  to  feelings  of  scorn  and  morti- 
fication, and  also  of  resentment  at  the  wounds  inflicted 
upon  the  College  by  two  of  its  alumni,  Coleridge  and 
Higgins.  On  the  27th  January  following  Dr.  Hawtrey 
died,  and  was  buried  Avithin  the  chapel,  the  hi-st  pei^son 
to  be  laid  there.  Hawtrey  was  a  great  character,  a 
strong  individuality.  He  excelled  Dr.  Keate  in  both 
these  respects.  His  ideas  were  large  and  lofty,  and  so 
far  as  public  school  administration  was  concerned,  of  a 
general  nature,  and  not  merely  confined  to  Eton  alone. 
He  was  a  familiar  and  welcome  figure  at  court,  and  also 
in  cultivated  and  literary  circles  in  London,  and  as  a 
host  in  his  own  house,  or  a  guest  in  those  of  his  friends, 
he  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  a  flow  of  bright  and  intel- 
lectual conversation,  characteristic  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  No  one  could  touch  on  the  history  of  Eton 
without  echoing  with  enthusiasm  Mr.  Gladstone's  woids 
about  Dr.  Hawtrey,  "  It  is  pleasant  to  me  to  speak  or 
write  about  him." 

Dr.  Hawtrey's  death  gave  the  Fellows  an  opportunity 
of  asserting,  for  the  last  time  as  it  turned  out,  their  time- 


202  ETON    COLLEGE 

honoured  claim  to  elect  a  new  Provost  themselves.  They 
met  and  elected  Bishop  Chapman.  The  Crown,  however, 
ignored  their  choice,  and  promoted  the  Head-master,  Dr. 
Goodford.  The  Head-mastership,  thus  vacated,  was  any- 
thing but  an  enviable  post,  since  the  Head-master  had 
already  been  summoned  for  cross-examination  by  the 
Commissioners.  The  loss  of  Dr.  Goodford  at  such  a 
crisis  was  particularly  unfortunate.  It  seemed  likely  to 
go  begging,  but  was  eventually  accepted  by  the  Rev. 
Edward  Balston,  who  had  not  long  before  retired 
from  being  an  Assistant-master  for  twenty  years  to  the 
soothing  repose  of  a  Fellowship.  Dr.  Balston  was  a  man 
of  high  breeding  and  fine  character.  His  love  for  Eton 
and  his  belief  in  the  administration  of  the  College  and 
the  school,  as  satisfactory  and  successful,  was  deep  and 
genuine.  He  was  hardly,  however,  the  man  for  the  crisis. 
Having  accepted  the  Head-mastership  as  a  labour  of  love 
for  the  school,  rather  than  from  desire  of  personal  aggran- 
disement, he  was  subjected  to  an  examination  by  the 
Commissioners,  which  was  cruelly  wounding  to  his  lofty 
and  sensitive  nature. 

When  the  Commissioners  met,  they  had  to  consider  the 
administration  of  the  College  as  a  Foundation,  distinct 
from  the  management  of  the  school.  The  Provost 
and  Fellows  had  always  sheltered  themselves  behind  the 
statutes,  whenever  any  reform,  which  they  disliked,  had 
been  proposed.  They  now  found  themselves  exposed 
to  distinct  charges  of  wilful  neglect  of  the  statutes. 
One   of   the    charges    brought    against   them,  and    most 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  i>03 

strongly  pressed,  related  to  the  management  of  the  College 
estates  and  the  profits  accruing  therefrom.  It  was  the 
custom  on  the  renewal  of  a  lease,  a  matter  of  frequent 
occurrence,  to  pay  over  the  '  fine '  to  the  Fellows,  and  as 
the  leases  were  numerous,  the  sum  amassed  in  this  way 
was  often  considerable.  It  was  alleged  that  these  profits 
should  have  been  applied  to  College  purposes,  and  had 
been  wrongfully  appropriated  by  the  Fellows.  It  did 
not  seem  clear  when  the  custom  had  first  gi'own  up,  and 
it  was  obvious  that  the  Provost  and  Fellows  in  appro- 
priating these  fines  were  only  doing  what  their  predecessors 
had  done  for  generations.  Public  opinion  was,  however, 
strongly  imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  College  had 
suffered  considerably  by  these  appropriations,  although 
the  Fellows  had  always  been  ready  to  subscribe  hand- 
somely to  any  additions  or  alterations  in  the  College, 
which  might  be  required.  It  was  also  alleged  that  this 
appropriation  was  a  violation  of  the  statutes,  whereby 
the  emoluments  of  the  Fellows  were  strictly  defined  and 
regulated. 

Another  charge  related  to  the  choir.  The  Founder's 
statutes  ])rovided  for  the  maintenance  of  a  certain  number 
of  singing  men  and  choristers,  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Foundation.  This  had  fallen  so  much  into  neglect,  that 
the  services  of  the  chapel  were  performed  by  the  choir 
of  St.  George's  Chapel,  Windsoi-,  and  as  the  Windsor 
service  followed  close  upon  that  at  Eton,  the  choir  was 
forced  to  leave  Eton  Chapel  before  the  service  was  com- 
pleted.    Music  had,  therefore,  in  defiance  of  the  Founder's 


204  ETON    COLLEGE 

most  cherished  wish,  become  almost  entirely  extinct  at 
Eton. 

A  third  charge  was  of  a  more  personal  nature.  It 
related  to  a  bequest  of  a  large  sum  of  money  by  Provost 
Godolphin  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  commons 
of  the  Collegers  in  Hall.  It  was  shown  that  the  im- 
provement  had  been  of  the  slightest,  and  it  transpired 
on  inquiry  that  only  the  dividends  had  ever  been  applied 
in  accordance  with  Provost  Godolphin's  intention,  and 
that  the  capital,  after  accumulating  for  some  little  time, 
had  been  used  to  defray  the  expenses  of  additional 
buildings  in  the  College.  The  bursars  rendered  no 
account  of  the  College  rents  and  properties,  and  de- 
ficiencies were  usually  met  by  loans. 

The  evidence  all  went  to  show  that,  however  desirable 
it  miffht  be  to  retain  the  ecclesiastical  foundation  of 
Henry  VL,  the  Fellows,  or  at  all  events  some  portion  of 
them,  had  become  an  expensive  and  unnecessary  drain 
upon  the  resources  of  the  College. 

An  inquiry  into  the  accommodation  of  the  King''s 
scholars  in  College  testified  to  the  great  improvements 
carried  out  by  Provost  Hodgson  and  Dr.  Hawtrey. 
There  was  still  something  left  to  be  desired  in  the  way 
of  space,  food,  and  cleanliness.  The  evidence  also 
showed  that  the  result  of  the  improved  condition  of 
the  'tugs'  had  been  to  lessen,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
contempt  felt  for  them  by  their  more  aristocratic 
(comrades  among  the  oppidans.  The  difference  of  station 
was,  however,  still  somewhat  accentuated  by  the  '  tugs  ^ 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  205 

being  obliged    to  wear  their   black    gowns   during   play 
hours. 

The  inquiry  into  the  course  of  instruction  was,  or 
was  intended  to  be,  very  searching.  The  school  was 
divided  into  the  Upper  and  Lower  School,  the  former 
containing  the  Sixth  Form,  Fifth  Form,  and  Remove,  and 
the  latter  the  Fourth  Form  and  all  below  it.  In  1861 
the  Head-master  had  seventeen  assistants  to  help  him 
in  the  Upper  School,  and  the  Lower-master  four  for 
the  Lower  School.  This  was  a  considerable  advance 
upon  the  days  of  Dr.  Keate,  and  admitted  of  a  much 
greater  subdivision  of  forms.  As,  however,  the  Assistant- 
masters  were  paid  by  the  Head-master  or  the  Lower- 
master,  every  increase  of  the  sbiff,  however  desirable, 
was  naturally  a  tax  upon  their  annual  stipends.  It  has 
already  been  stated  that  the  mathematical  master  was 
an  'extra'  on  the  list  of  Assistant-masters,  and  that  his 
assistants  in  the  mathematical  school  were  employed  and 
paid  for  by  him. 

With  regard  to  actual  work  in  school  there  was  great 
ground  for  justification  of  the  complaints,  that  the 
selections  in  the  Poetoc  Grceci,  Scriptorcs  liomanj,  and 
other  books  in  general  use,  were  obsolete  and  an  im- 
pediment to  genuine  scholarship.  The  time-honoured 
Eton  Latin  Grammar,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century, 
had  become  an  archaism,  only  excusable  by  the  lack 
of  a  proper  substitute.  This  want  was  shortly  sup- 
plied by  the  issue  of  the  Public  Sclwoh  Latin  Primer, 
wherein    the    Propria    quw    marilnis    of    Etonian    fore- 


206  ETON    COLLEGE 

fathers   gave   place    to    the    Psittaciis   loquitur   of    their 
grandchildren. 

It  was  shown  that  an  excessive  amount  of  time  was 
devoted  at  Eton  to  repetition,  four  mornings  a  week. 
Repetition  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  forms  of  mental 
exercise,  and  one  which  strengthens  and  qualifies  the 
mind  for  use,  much  as  dumb-bells  or  Indian  clubs  do  for 
the  muscles  of  the  body.  Many  Etonians  of  that  time 
were  ready  to  testify  to  the  immense  assistance  this 
exercise  had  been  to  them  in  after  life.  Repetition, 
however,  if  lightly  and  ineffectively  used,  is  of  little  value, 
especially  when  the  number  of  boys  to  be  heard  repeat 
their  lesson  is  large  and  the  time  allotted  short.  That 
a  master  should  hear  some  thirty  or  forty  boys  repeat 
a  lesson  with  little  more  than  about  a  minute  apiece 
allotted  to  each  boy  is  in  itself  evidence  that  some  part, 
at  all  events,  of  this  teaching  must  be  time  wasted.  The 
quick  boy  will  avail  himself  of  the  opportunities  afforded 
by  rotation,  the  idle  or  stupid  boy  will  merely  waste 
the  time  of  his  master  and  his  fellow-pupils.  In  this, 
as  in  other  matters  of  education,  it  is  easier  to  point  at 
faults  than  to  suggest  remedies.  The  same  applies  to 
the  making  of  Latin  verses,  a  form  of  education  loudly 
decried  by  those  who  have  either  no  experience  of  it 
themselves,  or  are  ready  to  acknowledge  themselves  as 
complete  failures  in  this  respect.  That  Latin  verse  was 
one  of  the  staples  of  education  at  Eton  was  not  due 
to  any  rooted  belief  in  the  efficiency  of  verse  as  some- 
thing indisputable  or  sacrosanct,  but  to   the  tradition. 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  207 

long  and  honourably  maintained,  that  the  best  education 
for  a  young  English  gentleman  was  one  which  inculcated 
in  him  at  an  early  age  some  knowledge  of  literary  taste 
and  culture,  even  if  it  was  not  found  possible  to  add  the 
power  to  cultivate  it.  For  this  purpose  the  making  of 
Latin  verses  is  a  most  admirable  exercise,  and  so  long 
as  this  Eton  tradition  shall  be  maintained,  it  is  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  think  of  any  satisfactory  substitute. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  Wellesley,  Canning,  Derby,  and 
Gladstone  had  been  trained  at  Eton,  taking  an  impress 
which  characterised  their  life  up  to  the  very  close.  The 
study  of  Greek  can  be  supported  by  similar  arguments. 
The  charges  of  neglect  in  the  sphere  of  mathematics, 
physical  science,  history,  and  foreign  languages,  were 
to  a  great  extent  ante-dated  by  the  reforms  initiated 
by  Dr.  Hawtrey,  which  in  so  venerable  an  institution  as 
Eton  College  had  hardly  had  sufficient  time  to  take  root 
and  fructify.  The  difficulties  seemed  insuperable,  as 
there  must  be  a  limit  to  the  powers  of  subdividing  the 
hours  in  one  day,  as  well  as  the  reasoning  faculties  of  the 
oi'dinary  schoolboy.  In  some  schools  of  more  recent  con- 
struction the  difficulty  was  met  bv  the  complete  bi-section 
of  the  school  into  classical  and  modern  sides,  a  confession 
in  itself  that  a  choice  must  be  made  between  one  or  the 
other.  The  past  history  of  Eton  seemed  to  justify 
the  authorities  in  maintaining  the  predominance  of  the 
classical  side.  The  absolute  necessity  for  better  teaching 
accommodation  had  been  met  by  the  College,  and  a  large 
block   of  buildings   known    as    the   '  New   Schools '   was 


208  ETON    COLLEGE 

erected  in  1861,  the  cost  being  defrayed  as  usual  partly 
by  the  College  and  partly  by  private  subscriptions. 

Another  part  of  the  Eton  system  was  evidently  a 
source  of  weakness.  In  the  Lower  School  there  did  not 
seem  to  be  any  fixed  minimum  of  age  at  which  a  boy 
might  come  to  Eton.  Some  came  as  early  as  five  or 
six  years  old,  and  remained  in  the  school  for  twelve  or 
fourteen  years.  The  smaller  boys  of  this  kind  were  all 
boarded  in  one  house  kept  by  the  Rev.  John  Hawtrey, 
a  cousin  of  the  Provost,  and  brother  of  the  mathematical 
master.  It  was  obvious  that  to  try  and  make  the  scope 
of  a  school  cui'riculum  wide  enough  to  embrace  the 
requirements  of  boys  of  nineteen  and  boys  of  six  or  seven 
years  of  age  was  a  task  beyond  the  powers  of  any  single 
organisation,  except  at  a  very  great  expense  and  sub- 
division of  labour.  The  education  of  boys  under  twelve 
or  thirteen  is  now  a  department  by  itself,  as  is  exempli- 
fied by  the  immense  increase  in  the  number  of  private 
and  preparatory  schools  throughout  the  country.  Mr. 
Hawtrey"'s  house  was  practically  a  private  school  in 
itself,  and  to  further  enhance  this  he  built  in  1862  a 
large  house  at  the  end  of  Common  Lane,  to  which  he 
removed  his  colony  of  small  boys,  relinquishing  at  the 
same  time  his  post  as  Assistant-master.  As  the  numbers, 
however,  of  the  school  increased,  the  advantages  to  the 
small  boys  became  less,  and  the  risks  of  the  situation 
were  distinctly  increased.  With  the  consent  of  all 
parties  concerned,  Mr.  Hawtrey  removed  his  boys  to 
new  premises  at  Aldin  House,  Slough,  where  he  estab- 


REFORMS    AT    p]TON  209 

lished  a  new  and  perfectly  independent  preparatory 
school.  AVith  these  boys  disappeared  all  the  I^ower 
Forms  of  the  school,  Sense  and  Nonsense,  Upper  Greek 
and  Lower  Greek,  First  and  Second  Forms,  since  it  was 
understood  in  future  that  the  minimum  standard  of 
admission  to  the  school  would  be  that  of  the  Third 
Form . 

The  Commissioners  inquired  fully  into  the  boarding- 
house  system,  the  tutorial  system,  and  the  discipline 
exercised  over  and  among  the  boys. 

The  growth  of  the  school  had  been  gradual,  and  liable 
to  periodical  fluctuations.  The  accommodation  for  the 
oppidans  was,  therefore,  of  correspondingly  casual  gi'owth. 
The  College  as  a  corporation  was  not  compelled  to  pro- 
vide accommodation  for  the  oppidans,  although,  as  their 
number  increased,  it  had  become  necessary  to  observe 
some  rules  of  discipline  and  control.  In  this  way  a  some- 
what haphazard  system  of  boarding-houses  had  grown  up, 
whereby  some  houses  were  rented,  partly  from  the  College, 
partly  from  neighbouring  landlords,  by  Assistant-masters, 
who  also  acted  as  tutors,  by  others  who  had  no  tutorial 
authority,  or  by  the  wives,  widows,  and  other  female 
relatives  of  College  or  school  officials.  After  Dr.  Hawtrey's 
abolition  of  private  tutors,  the  boarding-houses  became 
divided  into  two  classes — those  kept  by  a  classical  master, 
who  was  qualified  to  act  as  tutor  to  the  boys  in  the  house, 
and  those  kept  by  an  extra  master  or  a  Dame,  in  which 
cases  every  boy  was  allotted  to  a  tutor  among  the 
classical  masters.     The  house  masters  who  were  not  also 

o 


210  ETON    COLLEGE 

tutors  were  and  are  still  invariably  called  '  Dames/ 
the  old  name  of  '  Dominie  "*  having  entirely  dropped  out 
of  use. 

Discipline,  as  might  have  been  expected,  was  exer- 
cised with  greater  ease  in  a  tutor''s  house  than  in  a 
Dame's,  although  an  attempt  was  made  by  Dr.  Hawtrey 
to  secure  a  better  discipline  in  the  latter  by  making 
a  Dame's  house  subject  to  inspection  by  one  of  the 
Assistant-masters. 

The  whole  system  was  not  very  satisfactory,  but  very 
difficult  to  avoid  or  improve.  The  rights  of  private 
ownership  were  such  as  the  College  was  never  willing, 
even  if  it  was  able,  to  interfere  with.  Moreover,  there 
seemed  to  be  something  advantageous  in  leaving  the 
questions  of  board,  food,  &c.,  a  question  between  the 
parents  and  the  Head-master  or  Dame,  to  whom  they 
might  think  fit  to  entrust  their  boys. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  work  and  responsi- 
bility tlu'own  upon  a  classical  tutor  had  been  greatly 
increased  by  the  changes  under  Dr.  Hawtrey.  In  addition 
to  the  ordinary  work  in  school,  a  classical  tutor  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  preparation  of  a  large  number  of  pupils 
of  varying  ages  and  varying  positions  in  the  school. 
Besides  a  large  share  in  the  ordinary  Form-work  of  each 
boy,  he  had  to  contribute  a  certain  amount  of  private 
tuition  on  his  own  account.  He  thus,  as  it  were,  worked 
a  school  within  a  school,  and  that  single-handed,  having 
but  scanty  opportunities  for  giving  attention  either  to 
the  special  requirements  of  his  more  accomplished  pupils 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  211 

or  to  the  difficulties  and  blunders  of  those  who  might  be 
younger  or  inferior  in  intellect. 

With  regard  to  the  tone  of  the  school  itself,  the 
inquiries  of  the  Commissioners  may  be  said  to  have  pro- 
duced a  very  satisfactory  and  hopeful  result.  In  every 
public  school  of  any  great  size  there  must  ever  be  dark 
spots  and  difficult  places  to  get  over,  chiefly  caused 
by  those  vices  and  weaknesses  which  are  inherent  in 
human  nature,  especially  in  the  young,  and  which  can 
only  be  controlled  })y  a  firm  and  wholesome  treatment, 
or,  if  necessary,  as  in  disease,  by  judicious  excision 
or  amputation.  The  result  of  the  Commissioners"'  in- 
quiries, extended  not  only  to  Masters  and  parents,  but 
even  to  boys  at  the  school  or  who  had  just  left  it, 
showed  that  the  general  tone  of  the  school  was  good, 
and  that  in  certain  details,  which  had  been  severely 
called  into  cjuestion,  there  was  a  steady  and  natural 
impi'ovement. 

The  great  improvements  in  College,  and  a  correspond- 
ing raising  of  the  standard  of  comfort  in  boarding-houses, 
had  removed  from  the  time-honoured  ])ractice  of  '  fag- 
ging "*  much  that  might  have  been  considered  offensive 
and  degrading.  The  charges  of  '  bullying,'  too,  were 
proved  to  be  special  rather  than  general,  and,  apart  from 
the  natural  callousness  to  suffering  in  othei-s,  both  physical 
and  mental,  shown  by  the  average  boy  in  every  station 
of  life,  the  whole  tone  of  the  school  appeared  opposed 
to  anything  like  systematic  ill-treatment  of  one  boy  by 
another.     The    Commission    lasted    for    two   anil    a    half 


212  ETON    COLLEGE 

vears.  Although  its  inquiries  were  extended  to  the  nine 
schools  mentioned  before,  it  is  impossible  to  escape  from 
the  idea  that  Eton  was  the  main  object  of  the  Com- 
missioners'' inquiries,  and  that  had  it  not  been  for  Eton 
there  would  have  been  no  Public  Schools  Commission 
at  all.  The  Report  of  the  Conmiissioners  was  not  issued 
until  1865.  It  was  evident  from  the  Report  that,  so  far 
as  Eton  was  concerned,  the  reforms  suggested  were  of 
such  a  nature  as  could  only  be  carried  out  by  a  total  or 
partial  destruction  of  the  ancient  fabric  of  education  at 
Eton.  The  inquiry  had  been  long  and  searching,  and 
the  whole  mass  of  evidence  collected  must  always  remain 
one  of  the  most  important  historical  documents  in  the 
history  of  this  country. 

Various  reforms  suggested  by  the  Report  were  carried 
out  at  Eton  with  little  difficulty.  The  changes,  however, 
into  the  administration  of  the  College  were  of  a  very 
sweeping  nature.  Two  years  or  more  elapsed  before 
Parliament  took  any  action  in  the  matter.  In  1868  an 
Act  was  passed  appointing  Commissioners  to  draw  up  new 
statutes  for  the  leading  schools,  and  it  became  generally 
known  that  the  old  Foundation  at  Eton  was  doomed. 
The  Head-master,  Dr.  Balston,  had  bitterly  resented  the 
tone  adopted  by  the  Commissioners  in  their  inquiry  into 
the  administration  and  efficiency  of  Eton.  When  Parlia- 
ment took  action  he  resigned,  rather  than  be  forced  into 
any  agreement  with  the  changes  proposed.  The  appoint- 
ment of  a  successor  showed  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of    the    College   to    meet   public    opinion.      In    spite    of 


REFORMS    AT   ETON  213 

long  tradition,  the  Provost  and  Fellows  appointed  the 
Rev.  James  John  Hornby^  who  had  been  an  oppidan, 
and,  moreover,  at  Oxford,  and  at  the  moment  was  second- 
master  at  Winchester. 

Dr.  Hornby  became  Head-master  at  a  critical  moment 
for  himself  and  the  school.  He  was  on  the  threshold  of 
great  changes,  the  exact  extent  of  which  was  as  yet 
unknown.  While  it  would  naturally  have  been  his  duty 
as  an  old  Etonian  to  defend  the  traditions  of  his  old 
school,  he  was  looked  to  by  a  large  section  of  the  public 
outside  as  intended  to  inaugurate  a  new  regime.  Dr. 
Hornby  found  a  staff  of  some  twenty  masters,  all,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  mathematical  and  extra 
masters,  old  Etonians.  The  rule  that  appointments 
should  be  given  by  preference  to  King's  men,  which  had 
been  broken  so  successfully  in  the  cases  of  Mr.  Cole- 
ridge and  Mr.  Pickering,  was  again  broken  in  1860,  when 
the  Rev.  Edmond  Warre,  a  former  oppidan  and  scholar  of 
Balliol  College,  Oxford,  was  aj)pointed  an  Assistant-master. 
Subsequently  other  distinguished  Oxonians  have  been  ad- 
mitted, such  as  Henry  Elford  Luacmoore,  Francis  Tarver^ 
and  R.  A.  H.  M'ltehell,  all  ap])ointments  fraught  with 
the  greatest  importance  to  the  school.  Dr.  Hornby  at 
once  set  himself  to  work  to  supply  some  deficiencies  by 
increasing  the  staff  of  mathematical  masters,  and  admit- 
ting them  to  the  same  rank  and  dignity,  although  without 
their  privileges,  as  the  classical  masters.  Foreign  languages 
were  also  cared  for,  the  instruction  of  the  boys  in  French 
being  entrusted  to  Mr.  Francis  Tarver  and  his  brother. 


214  ETON    COLLEGE 

Mr.  Henry  Tarver,  assisted  by  a  Frenchman,  M.  Roublot. 
German  had  been  provided  for  by  a  resident,  though  extra, 
master:  and  an  ItaHan  gentleman  was  attached  to  the 
staff",  who  was  seldom  without  a  small  class  of  pupils. 
Dr.  Hornby  aimed  at  a  large  and  carefully  selected 
increase  to  the  staff  of  classical  masters ;  but  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  appointments  made  during  the 
first  seven  or  eight  years  of  his  Head-mastership  were, 
with  a  few  notable  exceptions,  far  from  being  successful. 

The  whole  day's  and  week''s  work,  however,  and  the 
laws  for  compulsory  chapel  service  as  well,  were  revised 
and  regulated. 

The  bolt  fell  in  1870,  when  a  new  "  Governing  Body  " 
was  appointed,  intended  to  contain  a  large  ingredient  of 
non-Etonian  members.  It  consisted  of  the  Provosts  of 
Eton  and  King''s,  e^r  officio,  and  of  five  members  to  be 
nominated  by  the  two  Universities,  the  Royal  Society, 
the  Lord  Chief- Justice,  and  the  Assistant  -  masters. 
These  seven  members  were  empowered  to  nominate  two, 
three,  and  four  additional  members,  according  to  their 
discretion. 

The  original  members  of  the  new  Governing  Body 
were  the  Provost  of  Eton  (Dr.  Goodford),  the  Provost  of 
King's  (Dr.  Okes),  the  Dean  of  Rochester  (Dr.  Scott), 
the  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge  (Dr.  W,  H. 
Thompson),  Professor  George  Gabriel  Stokes,  Sir  Roun- 
del 1  Palmer  (afterwards  Earl  of  Selborne  and  Lord  Chan- 
cellor), Canon  Lightfoot  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Durham), 
the  Right  Hon.  Spencer  Walpole,  M.P.,  the  Rev.  William 


JAMKS  JOHN    HOKNHY,    D.I). 
From  a  F/io/ogra/>h  hy  Hills  i^  Saunders. 


To  face  t-  214. 


REFORMS    AT    ETON  215 

A.  Carter,  Lord  Lyttelton,  and  the  Earl  of  Morley.  Four 
of  these — Thompson,  Stokes,  Pahner,  and  Lightfoot — 
were  non-Etonians. 

The  new  Governing  Body  then  proceeded  to  draw  up 
new  statutes  for  the  College  and  school,  whereby  the 
whole  of  the  original  Foundation  of  Henry  VI.  was,  after 
four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  entirely  abolished  and 
destroyed. 


X 

ETON   UNDER  THE   NEW   STATUTES 

The  new  statutes  drawn  up  by  the  new  Governing  Body 
of  Eton  College  were,  although  incased  in  the  rind  or 
shell,  so  to  speak,  of  the  old  Foundation,  a  complete 
revolution,  as  compared  with  the  statutes  drawn  up  by 
the  royal  Founder  of  the  College.  By  the  latter  the 
College  consisted  of  a  Provost,  seventy-four  scholars,  ten 
Priest-Fellows,  ten  chaplains,  ten  clerks,  sixteen  choristers, 
a  Head-master,  an  Usher,  and  thirteen  poor  infirm  men. 
By  the  new  statutes  it  was  to  consist  of  a  Provost  and 
ten  Fellows,  a  Head-master  of  the  school  and  a  Lower- 
master,  at  least  seventy  scholars,  and  not  more  than  two 
chaplains  or  conducts.  It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the 
whole  basis  of  the  College  as  an  ecclesiastical  corporation 
has  been  swept  away,  and  its  statutory  connection  with 
the  Church  limited  to  the  services  of  two  chaplains  or 
conducts  {capellani  cotuhcctitii). 

Taking  the  Provost  first :  formerly  he  was  ordered  by 
statute  to  be  a  Master  or  Bachelor  in  Divinity,  or  a 
Doctor  of  the  Common  Law  and  Master  of  Arts,  a  priest 
born  in  England,  thirty  years  old,  and  educated  at  the 
Foundation  of  Eton.  Part  of  this  statute  had  been 
evaded  from  time  to  time,  but  for  two  hundred  years  it 

216 


ETON  UNDER  THE  NEW  STATUTES  217 

had  been  strictly  observed.  By  the  new  statute  the 
Provost  need  only  be  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  not  necessarily  in  Holy  Orders,  and  a  Master  of 
Arts,  or  of  some  equal  or  superior  degree  at  one  or 
other  of  the  old  Universities.  The  long-standing  dispute 
as  to  the  right  of  election  was  determined  once  for  all  by 
the  new  statute,  that  the  appointment  to  the  Provostship 
shall  be  vested  in  the  Crown. 

The  Provost  of  Eton  College  had  up  to  this  date 
enjoyed  })recedence  and  plenary  authority  over  the  whole 
College.  These  powers  were  reduced  by  the  new  statutes 
to  a  general  superintendence  over  the  affairs  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  a  responsibility  for  seeing  that  the  statutes  were 
duly  obsei'ved.  The  Provost  had  been  fa-  officio  Rector 
of  the  parish  of  Eton,  and,  by  special  license  from  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  had,  since  1443,  exercised  archidia- 
conal  functions  in  Eton,  quite  independently  of  the 
Archdeacon  of  Buckinghamshire. 

It  was  obvious  that  the  Provost,  if  a  layman  were 
elected,  could  not  perform  these  parochial  and  archidia- 
conal  duties.  He  was  therefore  relieved  of  them,  and 
two  or  three  years  later  the  parish  of  Eton  was  consti- 
tuted into  a  vicarage,  independent  of  the  College,  and 
the  Church  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  which  had  been 
erected  as  a  chapel  of  ease  to  the  College  chapel,  was 
converted  into  the  parish  church  of  Eton.  The  College 
chapel  ceased  to  have  any  parochial  interest,  and  became 
merely  a  school  chapel,  served  by  two  paid  chaplains  on 
the  staff"  of  the  school. 


218  ETON    COLLEGE 

Thus  perished  the  religious  Foundation  of  Henry  VL 
Could  it  have  been  saved  ?  Probably  not,  for  the  ideas 
of  the  country  as  well  as  the  needs  of  the  community  had 
become  greatly  changed.  Though  the  College  was  in- 
tended by  Henry  \T.  to  be  anti-monastic  in  its  general 
character,  lapse  of  time  had  brought  it  into  line  with 
other  institutions,  more  monastic  in  their  account,  and 
thereby  the  object  of  the  most  jealous  scrutiny  by  an 
age  in  which  such  ecclesiastical  institutions  had  become 
obsolete. 

The  Provost,  shorn  of  his  authority  {nominis  umbra), 
has  become  little  more  than  the  titular  head  of  the 
College,  and  the  chairman  of  the  Governing  Body,  and 
the  sole  remnant  of  his  once  great  power  would  seem 
to  be  the  casting-vote,  which  he  is  entitled  to  give  in 
the  case  of  an  equality  of  votes  at  a  College  meeting. 

By  the  old  statutes  there  were  to  be  ten  Fellows, 
secular  priests,  elected  by  the  Provost  and  Fellows  jointly, 
from  members  or  former  members  of  either  Foundation. 
The  Fellows  of  Eton  were  entirely  abolished  by  the  new 
statutes.  It  is  true  that  the  members  of  the  Governing 
Body,  other  than  the  Provost,  were  invested  with  the 
title  of  Fellows,  but  this  must  have  been  done  simply 
from  a  wish  to  retain  the  outer  semblance  of  the  original 
Foundation.  The  existing  Fellows  were  allowed  to  retain 
their  posts  and  privileges,  and  this  permission  was  ex- 
tended to  the  then  Lower  Master,  the  Rev.  F.  E.  Durn- 
ford.  At  the  present  day  (1899),  the  sole  survivor  is 
the  Bursar,  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Carter,  with  whom  will  dis- 


ETON   UNDER   THE   NEW  STATUTES     219 

appear    the    last    living    representative    of    Henry    VI. 's 
Foundation. 

The  })ost  of  Vice-Provost  was  retained,  and  the  duties 
assigned  to  him  were  explained  by  his  designation.  The 
Vice-Provost  is  not  ex  officio  a  member  of  the  Governing 
Body.  Moreover,  by  a  curious  construction  of  the  statutes, 
the  Vice-Provost  does  not,  in  event  of  the  Provost  being 
incapacitated,  ipso  facto  take  his  place,  for  provision  is 
made  for  the  election  of  a  Pro-Provost,  whereby  it  seems 
possible  that  the  College  might  enjoy  the  services  of  a 
Provost  (incapacitated),  a  Pro-Provost,  and  a  Vice- Provost, 
without  any  one  of  the  three  taking  part  in  the  meetings 
of  the  Governing  Body. 

The  total  abolition  of  the  old  chapter  of  Fellows,  and 
the  sequestration  of  their  emoluments,  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  much  adverse  criticism.  It  has  been  shown  that 
certain  charges  of  maladministration  had  been  brought 
against  the  College,  and  to  a  certain  extent  substantiated, 
but  the  sum  total  of  the  charges  was  a  very  small  one, 
and  in  no  ways  connnensurate  with  the  benefits  that 
might  and  did  accrue  to  the  school  from  the  presence 
of  a  body  of  men,  devoted  mind  and  soul  to  the  welfare 
and  interests  of  Eton.  The  Fellowships  afforded  a  con- 
venient set  of  pensions  for  some  of  the  Assistant-masters 
on  their  retirement,  and  there  have  always  been  some 
whose  services  and  interests  were  sufliciently  valuai)le  to 
be  retained  in  this  way.  Their  emoluments  were  not  of 
such  an  extent  as  to  allow  of  the  accumulation  of  great 
wealth,  and  they  had  always  been  willing  and   generous 


220  ETON    COLLEGE 

contributors  to  any  scheme  for  the  improvement  of  the 
College.  There  were  many  points  about  their  constitu- 
tion, such  as  their  monopoly  of  the  preaching  in  the 
College  chapel,  which  called  for  reform,  but  hardly  any 
argument,  save  the  potent  and  perhaps  sufficient  one  of 
economy,  would  seem  to  support  so  strong  a  step  as  their 
total  abolition. 

Out  of  the  wreck  of  the  old  Foundation  the  one 
person  who  emerged  triumphant  was  the  Head-master. 
The  kernel  of  the  whole  controversy  had  been  the  rival 
interests  of  the  school  and  the  College. 

The  Covimensales  and  other  oppidani,  for  whom 
Henry  VI."'s  forethought  had  provided,  had  swelled  in 
numbers,  ebbing  and  flowing  like  the  ocean  tide,  and  had 
increased  in  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years  from  about 
two  hundred  to  nine  hundred.  The  requisite  provisions, 
however,  for  the  maintenance  and  education  of  this  enor- 
mous number  of  boys  had  not  increased  in  any  corre- 
sponding rate.  The  supply  of  Assistant-masters  was 
dependent  upon  the  Head-master,  and  had  been  shown 
to  have  been  ludicrously  insufficient  in  the  days  of  Dr. 
Keate  and  Dr.  Hawtrey.  An  increase  was  necessary  in 
the  staff  of  classical  masters,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
mathematical  masters,  and  teachers  in  physical  science, 
foreign  languages,  history,  and  other  subjects,  recom- 
mended by  the  Commission.  With  an  increase  of  the 
teaching  staff  came,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  need  for 
a  great  increase  in  the  class-rooms  and  laboratories. 

The  emoluments  of  the   College  were  for  the    most 


ETON   UNDER  THE   NEW  STATUTES    221 

part  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Provost,  Fellows, 
scholai's,  and  other  members  of  the  Foundation,  and  were 
therefore  not  available  for  the  purposes  of  the  school. 
It  required  an  act  of  violence,  therefore,  sheltered  under 
the  form  of  an  Act  of  Parliament,  to  divert  these  emolu- 
ments from  the  original  intention  of  the  Founder.  It 
was  obvious,  however,  that  the  school  must  in  course  of 
time  swallow  up  the  College,  and  when  the  '  happy  de- 
spatch'was  effected,  even  those  who  most  regretted  the 
disa})pearance  of  the  old  Foundation  found  it  difficult  to 
gainsay  the  necessity  and  utility  of  the  change. 

By  the  new  statutes  the  Head-master  is  appointed 
by  the  Governing  liody,  who  have  the  right  of  dismissing 
him,  and  to  whom  he  is  answerable  for  all  his  actions.  He 
need  not  be  in  Holy  Orders,  but  must  be  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  England.  He  retains  the  privilege  of  appoint- 
ing and  dismissing  all  the  Assistant-masters,  but  their 
number,  rank,  and  emoluments  are  under  the  control  of 
the  Governing  Body.  In  this  way  the  Head-master  has 
been  relieved  from  the  control  of  any  pei'sonal  influence, 
and  his  position  is  one  of  much  greater  dignity  and  im- 
portance than  heretofore.  The  Lower-master  {u&tiariii,s) 
was  retained  by  the  new  statutes,  but  as  the  Lower 
School  has  practically  disappeared,  the  position  occupied 
by  him  with  regard  to  the  Head-master  is  really  analogous 
to  that  of  the  Vice-Provost. 

The  obvious  difficulty  caused  by  the  abolition  of  the 
paid  Fellowships  was  met  in  the  new  statutes  by  the 
institution  of  a  Pension  Fund  for  the  Assistant-masters. 


222  ETON    COLLEGE 

By  this  statute  pensions  not  exceeding  .£'400  per  annum 
might  be  awarded  to  the  Head-master  or  any  Master  who 
had  served  for  fifteen  years  and  was  considered  deserving, 
provided  that  the  total  sum  awarded  in  pensions  did  not 
exceed  06^4000  per  annum.  The  ^Masters  also  had  the 
first  right  of  presentation  to  any  vacant  benefice  in  the 
patronage  of  the  College.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that 
with  an  increased  staff  of  Masters,  but  few  of  them  could 
ever  hope  to  draw  the  full  pension  of  ,iP400  a  year.  One 
however  remarkable  result  of  the  secularisation  of  Eton 
College  and  other  similar  institutions  was  to  relieve  the 
junior  members  of  the  staff'  from  the  duty,  formerly 
unavoidable,  of  taking  Holy  Orders.  This  has  not  been 
from  any  desire  to  avoid  identification  of  themselves  with 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England,  for  Eton  is  in 
itself  a  striking  example  of  a  distinct  increase  in  religious 
feeling  and  observance  during  the  last  few  years,  although 
at  the  present  day  only  eight  Masters  out  of  fifty-six  are 
clerks  in  Holy  Orders.  There  is  a  prevailing  idea  among 
modern  churchmen  that  no  man  should  take  Holy  Orders 
who  is  not  prepared  to  devote  some  portion  of  his  life 
at  all  events  to  the  actual  service  of  the  Church.  This 
idea  prevents  many  high-minded  young  schoolmasters 
from  taking  Orders  merely  as  a  means  to  an  end,  although 
they  are  aware  that  the  existing  prejudices  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  British  nation  are  in  favour  of  entrust- 
ing the  administration  of  the  great  public  schools  to 
clergymen. 

Turning  to  the  scholars  on  the  Foundation,  the  new 


ETON   UNDER   THE    NEW  STATUTES     223 

statutes  provided  for  at  least  seventy,  assuming  thereby 
the  possibihty  of  an  increase  in  the  numbers.  The  old 
election  by  the  united  authorities  of  the  Colleges  of  Eton 
and  King's  was  done  away  with,  with  all  its  picturesque 
appurtenances.  The  Founder's  restrictions,  too,  were 
abolished.  The  election  was  vested  in  the  Governing 
Body,  the  Examiners  appointed  by  them,  and  the 
scholarships  were  open  to  all  British  subjects  between 
the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen,  upon  a  certificate  of  good 
character. 

In  this  statute  nothing  is  said  about  the  scholars  being 
poor  and  indigent,  no  suggestion  is  made  of  any  chantable 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  Governing  Body.  Hence- 
forward it  was  an  open  prize  examination,  and  the  suc- 
cessful candidates  could  hold  the  scholarship,  whatever  his 
rank  or  the  means  of  his  parents.  The  King's  scholars 
have  therefore  become  a  select  body,  qualified  by  a  severe 
examination,  and  are  naturally  the  elite  of  the  school 
with  regard  to  distinctions  in  school-work  and  examina- 
tions. Nearly  all  the  discomforts  and  disadvantages  of 
College,  social  and  domestic,  have  (lisap])eared,  and 
beyond  the  wearing  of  a  black  cloth  gown  in  school  and 
a  surplice  in  chapel,  the  main  distinction  between  a  col- 
leger and  an  op})idan  is  that  the  former  is  certified  to  be 
a  clever  boy,  and  the  latter  is  not.  This  change  is  per- 
haps the  one  most  open  to  (jucstion  in  the  new  statutes. 
The  pious  and  charitable  intentions  of  the  Founder  were 
thereby  not  merely  amended,  but  wholly  frustrated.  It 
is  one  thing  to  increase  and  throw  open  to  the  world  at 


224  ETON    COLLEGE 

large  an  endowment  like  that  of  Eton  College  ;  it  is  another 
to  thereby  destroy,  perhaps  in  favour  of  the  rich,  the  few 
and  rapidly  diminishing  privileges  of  the  poor. 

King's  College,  Cambridge,  has  on  its  own  account 
divested  itself  of  its  purely  Etonian  character,  and  throw  n 
itself  open  to  the  world  at  large.  A  few  scholarships  are 
reserved  for  Etonians,  and  form,  apart  from  traditions  of 
love  and  affection,  the  sole  link  between  the  Colleges  which 
Henry  VI.  united  in  his  original  Foundation.  The  ties 
between  the  Colleges  of  King's  and  Eton,  though  gi-eatly 
loosened,  are  still  maintained  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  in 
a  Bill  introduced  in  1899  for  the  control  of  secondary 
education,  the  schools  of  Eton  and  Winchester  were  alone 
exempted  from  supervision,  and  are  still  treated  as  part 
of  one  or  other  of  the  two  Universities. 

The  above  is  but  a  short  summary  of  the  changes 
brought  about  by  the  new  statutes  of  the  Governing 
Body.  It  can  be  said  for  these  statutes,  that  on  the  whole 
they  have  worked  well.  The  constitution  of  the  Govern- 
ing Body  itself  has  shown,  that  the  safeguards  supposed 
to  be  instituted  by  allotting  four  seats  to  the  nomination 
of  the  two  Universities,  the  Royal  Society,  and  the  Lord 
Chief- Justice  have  not  proved  very  stable,  for  in  each  of 
these  cases  it  is  difficult  to  find  persons  of  eminence  and 
authority  who,  while  at  their  prime,  are  able  to  give  much 
time  and  attention  to  matters  outside  their  immediate 
sphere  of  influence.  Many  matters,  moreover,  pertaining 
to  Eton  are  of  purely  local  interest,  and  peculiar  to  the 
school.     The  great  source   of  nourishment  for  a   public 


ETON   UNDER   THE   NEW   STATUTES     225 

school  is  its  traditions,  and  in  the  monthly  meetings  of  a 
Committee  like  the  Governing  Body,  with  a  more  or  less 
fixed  agenda  for  each  meeting,  there  must  always  be  some 
danger  that  these  traditions  may  be  neglected.    One  great 
difficulty    was  not  foreseen   by    the  Governing  Body  in 
framing  the  statutes.     It  was  assumed  by  the  Connnis- 
sioners  of  1864  that  the  endowments  of  Eton  College  were 
not  only  large,  but  increasing  in  value.     This  was  one  of 
the  arguments  used  against  the  retention  of  paid  Fellows. 
The  endowments  of  Eton  College,  however,  like  those  of 
its   sister  college,  King's   College,  Cambridge,  and  other 
similar  institutions,  especially  at  Cambridge,  were  chiefly 
land,  or  revenues  derived  from  land.     Since  the  issue  of 
the  new  statutes  the  value  of  the  College  estates  has  been 
gradually  declining,  and    it   is  with    difficulty    that    the 
Governing   Body    can    meet    the    ever-growing   demands 
upon  the  resources  of  the  College.     There  are  no  more 
individuals  or  institutions  to  be  plucked,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  see  from  what  quarter,  any  increase  of  revenue  is  to  be 
obtained.      It  was  not,  therefore,  to  a  })ost  of  ease  and 
comfort  that  Dr.  Hornby  succeeded  in  ISOS.    The  histoi-y 
of  his  administration  of  the  school,  and  that  of  his  suc- 
cessor. Dr.  Warre,  is  so  recent  and  so  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  living  Etonians,  that  it  would  seem  pri'sumpluous  to 
criticise  or  praise  them  in  so  short  a  sketch  as  the  present 
volume.     It    will   be   sufficient  to   say   that  Dr.   Hornby 
occupied    the    post    of   Head-master    with    dignity    and 
success    at    perhaps   the    most    difficult    moment    in    tlie 
history  of   Eton,  and    that    when    iu-    succeeded    to    the 


226  ETON    COLLEGE 

Provostship  in  1884,  upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Goodford, 
his  work  was  carried  on  with  additional  vigour  and  suc- 
cess by  Dr.  Edmond  Warre,  who  still  holds  the  post. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  signs  of  the  raising  of  the 
standard  of  education  in  the  school  is  the  gradual  shrink- 
age of  the  Lower  School.  Whereas  in  former  days  the 
Lower  School  contained  about  one  -  half  the  whole 
school,  it  now  contains  but  one-sixth.  In  fact,  by  the 
new  statutes  the  Lower  School  in  its  old  sense  was 
abolished  altogether,  and  the  Lower-master,  no  longer 
an  Usher,  is  in  reality  the  locum  tenens  of  the  Head- 
master. Dr.  Hornby  was  successful  in  organising  a 
scheme  whereby  the  ordinary  routine  of  classics  and 
mathematics  was  varied  by  a  series  of  extra  studies, 
selected  at  choice  by  boys  on  attaining  one  of  the  higher 
divisions  of  the  school.  In  this  way  teaching  was  intro- 
duced in  French  and  German,  history,  physics,  chemistry, 
zoology,  and  other  branches  of  natural  science.  Dr. 
Hornby  was  ably  seconded  in  his  efforts  to  widen  the 
scope  of  teaching  by  Dr.  Edmond  Warre,  who  was  easily 
marked  out  as  his  successor.  As  Head -master,  Dr.  Warre 
has  elaborated  a  system  of  teaching,  in  which  no  charge 
can  again  be  brought  against  Eton  of  narrowness  or 
convention  within  the  scope  of  education.  In  mathe- 
matics progress  was  evident  by  the  attainment  of  a 
Senior  Wrangler,  Philip  Cowell,  in  1892,  and  a  Second 
Wrangler,  G.  J.  H.  Hurst,  in  1893.  An  extension  and 
remodelling  of  the  army  class,  originally  established  by 
Dr.  Hawtrey,  has    been    successful   in   enabling   boys   to 


ETON   UNDER   THE   NEW  STATUTES     227 

proceed  direct  to  Sandhurst  or  Woolwich  without  the 
intervention  of  a  "crammer."  My  way  of  an  experiment 
a  navy  class  has  also  been  formed  to  enable  boys  to 
proceed  straight  from  Eton  into  the  navy. 

All  scholarships  and  exhibitions,  except  where  other- 
wise specified,  are  ojien  to  be  comjjeted  for  by  any  boy 
in  the  school.  As,  however,  the  King's  scholars  are  a 
specially  selected,  and  to  a  certain  extent  specially  trained, 
body,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  majority  of  the  prizes 
are  carried  off  by  them.  The  more  credit,  therefore,  is 
due  to  any  oppidan  who  shows  himself  a  match  for  them 
in  the  school  or  prize  examinations. 

By  a  judicious  pruning  and  ti'ansplanting  among  the 
staff  of  Assistant  -  masters,  Dr.  Hornby  was  latterly 
successful  in  procuring  the  services  of  a  remarkably  high 
class  of  men.  Dr.  \Vai-re  has  continued  this  with 
conspicuous  success.  Mere  scholarship  ami  University 
distinctions  have  ceased  to  be  the  sole  (jualification  for 
the  post  of  Assistant-master  at  Eton.  High  character, 
and  in  many  cases  experience  of  teaching  elsewhere,  have 
been  the  chief  causes  of  selection  in  the  last  few  years. 
The  position  of  schoolmaster  has  been  raised  in  the 
social  scale.  Young  men  of  gentle  birth  and  refined 
breeding  are  no  longer  ashamed  to  join  the  ranks  of 
teacher.  The  change  has  been  of  incalculable'  advantage 
to  schools,  for  there  is  no  faculty  so  generally  inherent 
in  the  English  boy,  and  so  readily  employed  by  him,  as 
that  of  discerning  at  once  whether  his  teacher  or  his 
comrade  is  or  is  not  a  'gentleman.'' 


228  ETON    COLLEGE 

To  this  cause  may  also  be  attributed,  at  all  events 
to  a  considerable  extent,  the  improvement  in  discipline 
which  has  been  manifest  in  the  school  during  the  last 
twenty  years  or  more.  There  were  times  during  Dr. 
Hornby"'s  tenure  of  Head-mastership  when,  without  any 
disrespect  to  him,  his  authority  seemed  more  latent  than 
apparent.  Dr.  Hornby  had  in  consequence  more  than 
one  awkward  episode  in  school  discipline  which  called  for 
the  hand  of  a  wise  and  firm  administrator.  The  change, 
however,  in  the  general  social  position  of  schoolmasters 
has  enabled  them  to  meet  the  boys  on  a  broader  basis 
of  sympathy  and  affection.  The  boy  no  longer  feels  that 
the  schoolmaster  is  a  race  apart,  created  for  the  afflic- 
tion and  mortification  of  the  youthful  mind  and  body. 
He  learns  how  to  find  in  his  master  not  only  a  teacher 
and  admonisher,  but  also  a  friend,  both  out  of  school  and 
in  school,  in  the  playing-fields  as  well  as  in  the  pupil- 
room,  in  fact,  in  many  cases  an  expanded  and  improved 
edition  of  himself.  The  moral  effect  of  friendship  and 
sympathy  is  more  potent  with  the  boyish  mind  than  a 
thousand  birch-rods  or  other  forms  of  physical  punish- 
ment. There  are  probably  few  ties  of  affection  so  strong 
as  those  which  bind  many  an  Eton  tutor  to  the  majoritv 
of  his  pupils. 

The  new  regime  at  Eton  had  one  distinct  effect,  that 
of  exciting  the  confidence  of  the  aristocratic  or  moneyed 
parent.  The  number  of  boys  in  the  school  had  in  1871 
just  reached  nine  hundred,  and  had  risen  to  its  highest 
point  under  Dr.  Hornby  in  1877,  when  it  totalled  nine 


ETON  UNDER  THE    NEW  STATUTES     229 

hundred  and  sixty-two.  A  few  years""  decline  ensued 
until  1884,  when  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Warre  was 
the  signal  for  a  recrudescence  of  parental  confidence. 
From  that  date  the  numbers  have  steadily  increased. 
In  1891  they  exceeded  one  thousand,  and  the  question 
has  become  urgent  whether  any  further  increase  in  the 
numbers  of  the  school  will  not  be  disadvantajreous  to 
the  welfare  of  the  whole. 

This  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  school  has,  more- 
over, taken  place  in  spite  of  a  steady  and  inevitable  increase 
in  the  expense  of  maintaining-  a  boy  at  Eton.  The  general 
comfort  of  boys  in  the  various  boarding-houses  has  been 
increased  to  an  extent  which  would  have  made  their 
grandfathers  smile.  Food,  clothes,  pocket-money  are  now 
supplied  to  the  boys  in  profusion,  and  the  S})artan  life  of 
the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  given  place 
to,  in  comparison,  a  perfect  Capua  at  its  close.  This 
change  has  been  due  to  some  extent  to  a  great  increase  in 
the  standard  of  comfort  at  home  ami  to  a  large  infusion 
of  the  classes  who  owe  their  position  to  wealth  rather 
than  to  rank  or  distinction  of  birth. 

Eton,  as  the  nursery  of  the  well  born  and  the  wealthy, 
has  in  these  democratic  days  met  with  many  detractors. 
It  is  easy  to  point  to  tlie  evils  and  ililhculties  which  imist 
always  arise  from  the  herding  together  of  any  mnnber  of 
boys  at  the  age  of  puberty,  well  born  or  otherwise.  It 
should  be  remembered,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Eton  gets 
a  larger  share  than  any  othei-  school  of  those  who  may 
without  any  disrespect  be  called  the  wastrels  of  tlu'  aris- 


230  ETON    COLLEGE 

tocracy.  There  are  few  fates  more  cruel  than  that  of  a 
boy,  the  younger  son  of  a  peer  or  landowner,  who  may  be 
brought  up  in  a  home  where  every  luxury  is  provided  and 
many  faults  condoned  or  ignoi'ed,  whose  existence  is  but 
of  secondary  importance  to  that  of  his  eldest  brother, 
and  who  is  destined  very  often  to  face  the  world  on  the 
scantiest  of  pittances,  and  with  all  the  tastes  and  habits 
derived  from  a  life  of  plenty  and  luxury.  Many  such 
boys  are  sent  to  Eton,  and  it  reflects  honour  on  the 
school  whenever,  as  they  frequently  do,  they  owe  to 
Eton  the  moral  stamina  which  enables  them  later  on 
to  overcome  the  difficulties  of  their  position. 

The  duties  of  parents  to  their  children  have  been 
insisted  upon  lately  by  many  educational  authorities. 
In  no  school  are  they  shown  to  such  advantage  or  dis- 
advantage as  they  are  at  Eton.  Many  cases  of  youthful 
misdemeanour  can  be  traced  to  careless  supervision,  if  not 
to  actual  vices  learnt,  and  not  observed  or  discouraged,  at 
home.  The  moral  training,  too,  required  at  Eton  is  one 
quite  dissociated  from  religion. 

Eton,  although  a  foundation  dedicated  to  Mother 
Church,  has  never  been  a  college  for  the  dissemination  of 
ecclesiastical  doctrine.  Even  the  influence  of  Dr.  Arnold, 
so  paramount  in  the  educational  world  of  his  day,  hardly 
affected  Eton  at  all.  It  may  be  perhaps  fairly  alleged 
against  the  old  foundation  that  religion  had  been  almost 
entirely  neglected.  The  services  in  chapel  were  much 
too  frequent,  and  had  become  little  more  than  a  tiresome 
routine.     These  services  were  hurried   through,  and  the 


ETON   UNDER   THE   NEW  STATUTES     231 

Fellows  had,  and  clung  to,  a  monopoly  of  the  preaching. 
Sermons  veered  between  dulness  and  eccentricity.  The 
behaviour  of  the  boys  in  chapel  was  very  irregular,  and 
under  very  inadequate  control. 

It  is  a  curious  paradox  that  after  the  almost  complete 
secularisation  of  the  Eton  foundation,  there  has  arisen 
in  the  school  a  distinct  advance  in  the  feeling  and  re- 
verence  for  religion.  Although  comparatively  few  of 
the  teaching  staff  are  now  in  holy  orders,  it  may  be  said 
without  hesitation  that  the  influence  of  the  masters  in 
the  sphere  of  religion  has  gi-eatly  increased,  and  is  felt  and 
understood  by  the  boys.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
ease  with  which  the  school  was  persuaded  to  lend  its  name 
and  identify  itself  with  a  great  missionary  work  in  the 
East  End  of  London.  The  services  in  chapel  are  now 
regulated  by  a  system,  so  as  to  be  no  longer  wearisome 
or  annoying.  Certain  time-honoured  disorderlv  prac- 
tices, such  as  '  Church  Sock,'  have  entirely  disappeared. 
The  revival  of  the  choral  services,  so  lovingly  insisted 
upon  by  the  royal  Founder,  has  no  doubt  led  to 
greater  decorum  among  the  boys  in  school.  Music, 
ever  since  Plato's  time,  has  been  recognised  as  a  |)otent 
factor  in  education.  Henry  VI.  was  aware  of  this,  and 
his  directions  for  the  choral  services  are  very  explicit. 
From  this  arose  the  school  of  musicians  under  Provost 
13ost,  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter.  But  in  later 
years  the  practice  of  music  had  almost  entirely  died  out. 
The  choir,  at  first  an  integral  part  of  the  Foundation,  hmi 
almost,  if  not  ([uite,  ceased  to  exist.     The  services  were 


232  ETON    COLLEGE 

conducted  by  the  choir  of  St.  George's  Chapel  in  Windsor, 
those  at  Eton  being  considered  as  of  quite  secondary 
importance.  Music  ceased  to  be  taught  in  the  school. 
The  Commission  of  1860  called  attention  to  this  defect. 
A  separate  choir  was  formed  for  the  service  of  Eton 
Chapel,  supported  by  the  College,  although  it  is  no  longer 
actually  provided  for  by  the  statutes. 

In  1864  a  further  step  was  taken  by  the  a})pointment 
of  John  Foster,  one  of  the  singing-men  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  to  come  down  to  Eton  once  a  week  to  teach  music 
to  such  pupils  as  might  present  themselves.  The  event 
would  have  been  unimportant  itself  had  it  not  been  that 
Foster  numbered  among  his  few  pupils  a  boy  who  has 
since  become  not  only  the  greatest  musician  educated  at 
Eton,  but  even,  perhaps,  the  greatest  produced  by 
England  at  any  time — Sir  Charles  Hubert  Hastings 
Parry.  In  1870  a  residential  music-master  was  ap- 
pointed in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Leighton  George 
Hayne,  who  built  himself  a  house  and  large  music- 
room  at  the  bottom  of  Keate's  Lane.  Dr.  Hayne  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  C.  D.  Maclean ;  but  music  took  a 
more  considerable  stride  under  the  management  of  the 
late  Sir  Joseph  Barnby  and  the  present  organist.  Dr. 
Charles  Harford  Lloyd.  There  may  be  said  now  to  be 
quite  a  flourishing  school  of  music  at  Eton,  and  among 
the  ranks  of  recent  Etonians  there  has  been  more  than 
one  who  in  musical  composition  is  likely  to  make  a  name 
for  himself,  even  if  he  cannot  aspire  to  rivalry  with 
Sir  Hubert  Parry. 


XI 

SPORTS   AND   PASTIMES 

One  important  factor  in  the  school  life  at  Eton  has 
hitherto  remained  unnoticed — the  sports  and  games  with 
which  Eton  boys  have  for  generations  made  their  hoy- 
hood  varied,  happy,  and  often  famous.  The  relation 
borne  by  games  to  the  ordinary  routine  of  school-work 
has  for  long  been  a  subject  of  diverse  opinions.  The 
scholars  and  divines  of  the  Middle  Ages  thought  little 
of  physical  health  as  an  ingredient  in  education.  The 
churchmen  either  mortified  the  flesh  with  asceticism,  or 
pandered  to  it  by  good  cheer  and  luxury.  Such  sports 
as  the  youth  of  England  might  indulge  in  to  keej)  the 
eye  clear  and  straight,  and  the  muscles  strong  and 
ready  for  use,  were  of  a  nature  hardly  compatible  with 
schoolwork,  being  chiefly  riding,  hunting,  hawking,  tilt- 
ing, or  the  like.  In  the  statutes  of  the  older  public 
schools  there  is  no  suggestion  of  any  time  being  given 
up  for  actual  play  or  recreation.  Such  intervals  as 
occurred  between  the  school  hours,  where  not  occupied 
by  meals,  were  left  free  to  the  boys  for  games,  but  they 
were  few  and  far  between. 

By    the    end    of    the    sixteenth    century    the    rivalry 
between  work  and  pastime  had  alreadv  become  a  familiar 

233 


234  ETON    COLLEGE 

topic,  for  in  his  famous  Scholemaster  Roger  Ascham, 
writing  at  Windsor,  within  sight  of  Eton  College,  and 
prompted  to  his  treatise  by  his  friend,  Sir  Richard 
Sackville,  an  old  Etonian,  makes  deliberately  the  follow- 
ing assertion  :  "  I  do  not  meene,  by  all  this  my  taulke, 
that  yong  Jentlemen  should  alwaies  be  poring  on  a  booke, 
and  by  using  good  studies,  shold  lease  honest  pleasure 
and  haunt  no  good  pastime.  I  meene  nothing  lesse : 
For  it  is  well  knowne,  that  I  both  like  and  love  and  have 
alwaies,  and  do  yet  still  use,  all  exercises  and  pastimes 
that  be  fitte  for  my  nature  and  habilitie.  And  beside 
naturall  disposition,  in  judgement,  also,  I  was  never, 
either  Stoick  in  doctrine,  or  Anabaptist  in  Religion  to 
mislike  a  nierie,  pleasant,  and  plaifull  nature,  if  no  out- 
rage be  committed  against  lawe,  mesui'e  and  good  order. 
Therefore  I  woud  wishe,  that,  beside  some  good  time, 
fitlie  appointed,  and  constantlie  kepte,  to  encrease  by 
readinge  the  knowledge  of  the  tonges  and  learning,  yong 
gentlemen  shold  use,  and  delite  in  all  Courtelie  exercises 
and  Jentlemanlike  pastimes." 

Further  on  Ascham  enumerates  the  following  pastimes, 
saying,  "  to  ride  cumlie  :  to  run  faire  at  the  tilte  or  ring  : 
to  plaie  at  all  weapons :  to  shote  faire  in  bow,  or  surelie 
in  gon  :  to  vaut  lustely  :  to  runne  :  to  leape  :  to  wrestle : 
to  swimme :  to  daunce  cumlie :  to  sing  and  playe  of  in- 
strumentes  cunnyngly :  to  hawke :  to  hunte :  to  playe  at 
tennes,  and  all  pastimes  generally,  which  be  joyned  with 
labor,  used  in  open  place,  and  on  the  day  light,  con- 
teininjj   either   some   fitte   exercise    for    warre,    or    some 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  235 

pleasant  pastime  for  peace,  be  not  onelie  cumlie  and 
decent,  but  also  verie  necessarie,  for  a  Courtlie  Jentlenuin 
to  use." 

When  the  Founder,  King  Henry  VI.,  bought  up  the 
houses,  gardens,  and  fields  in  the  parish  of  Eton  necessary 
for  the  foundation  of  his  college,  he  acquired  a  consider- 
able tract  of  open  ground  known  as  the  '  Kinges  Werde." 
This  piece  of  ground  extended  from  the  College  on  the 
north  as  far  as  the  brook,  then  known  as  C'olenorton 
Brook,  which  runs  into  the  river  Thames,  and  was 
bounded  on  the  west  by  the  road  to  Slough,  and  on 
the  east  by  the  river  Thames.  This  corresponds  to 
what  was  afterwards  known  for  generations  as  '  The 
Playing-Fields.''  Beyond  the  brook  were  two  large  fields, 
then  (in  1443)  the  property  of  the  Prior  and  Convent 
of  Merton.  These  fields  were  acquired  by  the  Founder 
a  little  later,  and  were  at  an  early  date  known  as 
the  '  Upper  and  Lower  Shooting-Fields.''  It  has  been 
surmised  that  archery  butts  were  set  up  here,  and  perhaps 
used  by  the  boys.  Archery  was  a  popular  pastime  among 
high  and  low.  The  Founder  himself  was  an  archer,  and 
a  bracer  of  his  has  been  preserved.  In  the  days  of  the 
Tudor  sovereigns  archery  was  a  favourite  pjistime  at 
Court,  and  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth  both  excelletl 
in  it.  Rofjer  Ascham  wrote  a  treatise  on  it,  besides 
including  it  in  the  list  of  'cumlie'  pastimes  for  young 
srentlemen.  When  Harrow  School  was  founded  bv  .John 
Lyon  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  parents 
were   expected    to    provide    their   boys   with   '  bowslmfts, 


236  ETON    COLLEGE 

bow-strings,  and  a  bracer,''  in  addition  to  pens,  ink, 
and  paper.  The  shooting  for  the  '  Silver  Arrow ''  at 
Harrow  was  an  annual  festival  akin  to  the  Eton 
'  Montem,'  and  its  abolition  was  due  to  a  similar  cause. 
The  playing-fields  and  shooting -fields  were  united  by 
a  brick  bridge,  known  as  Sheep's  Bridge,  built  in 
1563-64. 

There  are  but  few  notices  of  the  playing-fields  in  the 
early  history  of  Eton  College.  In  Malim"'s  Con^uetudi- 
jiarhim,  compiled  in  1560,  there  is  no  mention  of  them. 
The  only  hour  in  the  day  allotted  for  play  was  between 
four  and  five  in  the  afternoon,  an  extra  hour  being 
allowed  during  the  summer,  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock.  The  boys  did  not  return  home  at  Christmas 
or  Easter;  and  though  the  hours  for  work  were  partly 
or  entirely  relaxed  during  these  holidays,  the  boys  seem 
to  have  been  always  confined  within  the  precincts  of 
the  College  when  not  in  school,  chapel,  or  hall,  except 
on  the  days  on  which  they  were  given  special  leave  to 
go  out  into  the  fields  and  neighbouring  country. 

In  1563,  when  the  French  ambassador  and  his  suite 
were  lodged  in  the  College,  and  produced  much  discomfort 
and  disorder  thereby,  one  of  the  complaints  made  against 
them  was,  that  they  "  spoyled  a  great  manie  of  the 
Colledge  bricks  lying  on  the  back  side  of  ther  kytchin, 
w"'^  they  threw  at  the  Schollers  as  they  passed  between 
the  Schole  and  the  fields."  As  these  obnoxious  French- 
men used  also  "  daily  to  kill  fesants,  heronshawes, 
mallards,  teeles,  and  doves  w*^^  their  hand  gonnes,""  it  is 


ETON    COI.LliGE    KROM    SHEEP's   BRIDGE    IN    THE    I'l.AV-KIEI.DS. 
From  a  \Vate>-Colotir  Drawing l>y  Philip  Norman. 


To  face  p.  136. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  237 

possible  that  the  '  Shooting- Fields '  were  at  that  date 
nothing  more  than  a  preserve  for  such  game  on  land  and 
water.  This  seems  the  more  likely,  inasmuch  as  it  would 
appear  that  it  was  in  1583-84  that  the  playing-fields  were 
first  laid  out  and  planted  as  they  remain  at  present. 

In  1590,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  Eton,  a  charge  is  made  in  the  accounts  :  "  To  Holdernes 
for  3  dayes  dressinge  of  the  playing-filde  by  the  garden 
when  the  Queue  came,  18d." 

There  is  but  scanty  record  of  the  playing-fields,  and 
indeed  of  the  games  and  pastimes  at  Elton  for  the  next 
fifty  years,  until  the  days  of  Provost  Rous,  who  is  credited 
with  having  planted  some  of  the  fine  trees  in  the  shooting- 
fields.  This  tradition  seems  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
estimated  age  of  some  of  the  large  trees  would  place  the 
date  of  their  plantation  during  the  lifetime  of  Rous, 
rather  than  to  any  actual  evidence  that  he  had  a  hand 
in  planting  them.  Pepys  on  his  visit  to  Eton  in  1666 
"  went  into  the  back  fields  to  see  the  scholars  play."  The 
next  notice  of  the  playing-fields  at  Eton  occurs  in  a  letter 
from  Horace  Walpole  at  Cambridge  in  1736  to  George 
Montagu.     Walpole  writes  : — 

"  Dear  George, — Were  not  the  playing-fields  at  Eton 
food  for  all  manner  of  flights  ?  No  old  maid\s  gown, 
though  it  had  been  tormented  into  all  the  fashions  fi'om 
King  James  to  King  George,  ever  underwent  so  many 
transformations  as  those  poor  plains  have  in  my  idea. 
At  first  I  was  contented  with  tending  a  visionarv  Hock, 


238  ETON    COLLEGE 

and  sighing  some  pastoral  name  to  the  echo  of  the  cas- 
cade under  the  bridge.  How  happy  should  I  have  been 
to  have  had  a  kingdom  only  for  the  pleasure  of  being 
driven  from  it  and  living  diso^uised  in  an  humble  vale  ! 
As  I  got  further  into  Virgil  and  Clelia,  I  found  myself 
transported  from  Arcadia  to  the  garden  of  Italy  ;  and 
saw  Windsor  Castle  in  no  other  view  than  the  Capitoli 
immobile  saxum.  I  wish  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  may  ever  seem  to  be  the  senate ;  or  a  bill 
appear  half  so  agi-eeable  as  a  billet-doux.  You  see  how 
deep  you  have  carried  me  into  old  stories ;  I  write  of 
them  with  pleasure,  but  shall  talk  of  them  with  more 
to  you.  I  can't  say  I  am  sorry  I  was  never  quite  a 
schoolboy ;  an  expedition  against  bargemen,  or  a  match 
at  cricket,  may  be  very  pretty  things  to  recollect ;  but, 
thank  my  stars,  I  can  remember  things  that  are  very 
near  as  pretty -^^ 

Another  side-light  is  thrown  by  Walpole's  friend  and 
contemporary,  Thomas  Gray,  in  his  famous  poem  '  On  a 
Distant  View  of  Eton  College,'  in  which  he  says — 

Say,  Fatlier  Thames,  for  thou  hast  seen 

Full  many  a  sprightly  Race 

Disporting  on  thy  Margent  green 

The  Paths  of  Pleasure  trace, 

Who  foremost  now  delight  to  cleave 

With  pliant  Arm  thy  glassy  ^V^ave .'' 

The  captive  Linnet  which  enthrall  ? 

What  Idle  Progeny  succeed 

To  chase  the  rolling  Circle's  speed, 

Or  urge  the  flying  Ball } 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  239 

W^hile  some  on  earnest  Business  bent 

Their  murmuring  Labours  ply, 

'Gainst  graver  Hours,  that  bring  Constraint 

To  sweeten  Liberty  : 

Some  bold  Adventurers  disdain 

The  limits  of  their  little  Reign, 

And  unknown  Regions  dare  descry  : 

Still  as  they  run  they  look  behind. 

They  hear  a  Voice  in  every  >Vind, 

And  snatch  a  fearful  Joy. 

Not  long  after  the  date  of  this  poem  there  was  com- 
piled the  interesting  manuscript  account  of  Eton  games, 
entitled  NugcE  Etonense.s',  from  which  Sir  H.  Maxwell-Lyte 
([uotes  the  following  list  of  games  : — 

Cricket,  Fives,  Shirking  Walls,  Scrambling  Walls,  Bally 
Cally,  Battledores,  Peg-top,  Peg  in  the  ring,  Cjoals,  Hop- 
scotch, Headimy,  Conquering  Lobs,  Hoops,  Marbles,  Trap- 
ball,  Steal  baggage,  Puss  in  the  corner.  Cut  gallows.  Kites, 
Cloyster  and  Flyer  Gigs,  Tops,  Humming-tops,  Hunt  the 
hare.  Hunt  the  dark  lanthorn,  Chuck,  Sinks,  Starecaps, 
Hustlecap,  Football,  Slides  in  School,  Leaping  Poles,  ike. 

Now  it  is  noteworthy  that  of  all  this  miscellaneous  list 
of  games  there  is  hardly  one,  so  fjir  as  the  game  can  be 
identified,  cricket  included,  which  could  not  be  played 
within  the  precincts  of  the  school-yard,  Battledores,  peg- 
tops,  hop-scotch,  hoops,  marbles,  trapball,  and  other  games 
on  the  list  are  familiar  names,  even  if  it  be  difficult  to 
imagine  a  modern  Eton  boy  indulging  in  these  somewhat 
vulgar  amusements.  Bowling,  hoops,  and  even  marbles 
have  from  time  to  time  asserted  a  fleeting  fascination  at 
Eton,    and    there    are    few    Etonians    who    cannot    recall 


240  ETON   COLLEGE 

an  outbreak  of  mania  for  tops  at  some  time  or  another, 
though  invariably  a  shortlived  one.  'Peg  in  the  ring' 
appears  to  be  a  combination  of  the  peg-top  with 
the  volatile  button,  so  dear  to  the  boy  in  the  street. 
The  game  of  '  Goals '  has  usually  been  understood 
as  football,  but  without  good  reason,  for  it  would 
seem  as  likely  to  have  been  some  game  similar  to  that 
of  pall-mall,  where  a  ball  was  driven  with  a  club  through 
a  goal.  That  football  was  played  at  an  early  date  is 
shown  by  Horman  in  his  Vidgar'ia^  who  speaks  of  playing 
with  a  "  ball  full  of  wynde."  But  as  played,  it  was  prob- 
ably a  kick-about  in  the  school-yard,  similar  to  that 
played  by  the  Blue-Coat  boys  at  Christ's  Hospital. 

Gray's  "  urge  the  flying  Ball  "  could  be  understood 
equally  of  cricket  as  football.  Walpole  mentions  cricket 
as  a  regular  institution,  and  even  then,  as  at  the  present 
day,  the  source  of  many  'old-boy'  reminiscences.  As 
far  back  as  1706  cricket  was  sufficiently  popular  to  be 
celebrated  in  Latin  verse  by  a  Fellow  of  Eton,  William 
Goldwin. 

These  pages  are  not  the  place  in  which  to  trace  the 
rise  and  progress  of  cricket  at  Eton.  The  subject  has 
been  treated  elsewhere,  and  antiquarian  research  has  col- 
lected every  scrap  of  information  concerning  a  game 
Avhich  grew  gradually  in  popular  estimation,  until  after 
due  development  it  has  become  the  typical  pastime  of 
the  English  race.  In  the  oldest  known  cricket  club,  the 
Hambledon  Club,  the  chief  performer  was  an  Etonian, 
the  eighth  Earl  of  Winchilsea.     The  famous  statesman, 


^ 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  24.1 

John  Montagu,  fourth  Earl  of  Sandwich,  was  an  en- 
thusiastic cricketer,  and  varied  his  assiduous  duties  at  the 
Admiralty  with  music,  theatricals,  cricket,  and  other 
sports  at  Hinchinbroke.  In  1791  an  eleven  of  old 
Etonians  made  their  first  appearance  in  London  in  a 
match  against  the  Gentlemen  of  England  at  the  old 
'  Lord's '  cricket-ground. 

The  first  recorded  match  took  place  in  1797  against  an 
Oldfield  Club.  Other  early  antagonists  were  the  Epsom 
Club  and  the  Bullingdon  from  Oxford.  The  first  x'o- 
corded  public  school  matches  were  in  1799  and  1800,  when 
Eton  played  Westminster  on  the  old  'Lord's'  ground. 
The  first  recorded  match  between  Eton  and  Harrow  took 
place  on  the  same  ground  on  August  2,  1805.  On  this 
occasion  Stratford  Canning  (afterwards  Lord  Stratford  de 
Redcliffe)  played  for  Eton,  and  Lord  Byron  for  Harrow, 
Of  this  match  Byron  writes  to  his  friend  Charles  Gordon, 
"  We  have  played  the  Eton,  and  were  most  confoundedly 
beat;  however,  it  was  some  comfort  to  me  that  I  got  11 
notches  the  first  innings  and  7  the  second,  which  was  more 
than  any  of  our  side  except  Brockman  and  Ipswich  could 
contrive  to  hit.  After  the  match  we  dined  together 
and  were  extremely  friendly,  not  a  single  discordant  word 
was  uttered  by  either  party."  The  first  recorded  match 
between  Eton  and  Winchester  took  place  at  Lord's  on 
August  4,  1826,  ^^  inchcster  being  victorious  in  spite 
of  the  presence  in  the  Eton  eleven  of  such  formidable 
cricketers  as  E.  H.  Pickering  and  Henry  Snow,  From 
these   dates   the  rivalry  between    these  two  schools  and 


242  ETON    COLLEGE 

Eton  on  the  cricket-field  has  been  continuous  and  well 
sustained,  and  continues  to  form  one  of  the  central  and 
most  exciting  episodes  in  a  schoolboy's  life. 

At  Eton  there  are  certain  striking  episodes  in  the 
history  and  progress  of  cricket  in  the  school.  No  one 
studying  the  scores  of  the  early  cricket  matches  can  fail 
to  be  struck  by  the  prevalence  of  'tugs'  in  the  Eton 
eleven.  Was  this  due  to  the  superior  athletic  training 
inculcated  by  the  severe  discipline  in  College,  or  perhaps 
was  it  an  illustration  how  brains  and  athletics  are  more 
often  to  be  found  in  unison  than  not.?  Or  was  it  not 
perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that,  out  of  the  limited  accom- 
modation in  the  playing-fields,  one  part  was  always  set 
apart  for  the  College  game,  leaving  the  remaining  six 
hundred  boys,  or  such  portion  of  them  as  called  them- 
selves 'dry-bobs,'  to  compete  for  the  remainder.  At 
all  events,  many  members  of  the  early  Eton  elevens  were 
tugs,  including  such  well-known  cricketers  as  John  Bar- 
nard, Henry  Snow,  John  Henry  Kirwan,  and  Thomas 
Anchitel  Anson.  Among  the  oppidan  cricketers  the  most 
famous  were  George  Osbaldeston,  afterwards  the  famous 
huntsman,  Herbert  Jenner,  Roger  Kynaston,  Charles  G. 
Taylor,  and  William  Pickering.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  the  match  against  Winchester  in  1829  was  mainly 
won  by  the  efforts  of  John  Henry  Parnell,  father  of  the 
late  Irish  leader ;  that  John  Charles  Ryle,  the  present 
Bishop  of  Liverpool,  played  for  Eton  in  1833,  when 
Bishop  Abraham  was  also  in  the  eleven,  and  again  in 
1834,  when  he  was  captain ;  that  Dr.  Balston,  afterwards 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  243 

Head-master,  played  in  1836,  as  his  successor,  Dr. 
Hornby,  did  in  1845, 

The  first  great  score  made  in  the  Eton  and  Harrow- 
match  was  that  of  152,  made  in  1841  by  EmiHus  Bayley, 
who  played  no  less  than  four  years  in  succession ;  his 
score  remains  to  this  present  day  unsurpassed  in  this 
particular  match.  1841  was  a  memorable  year,  owing 
to  the  presence  at  Eton  of  three  famous  fast  bowlers, 
Walter  Marcon,  George  Yonge,  and  Harvey  Fellowes. 
John  Coleridge  Patteson,  the  martyr-bishop,  played  in 
1843,  and  again  in  1844,  in  which  year  also  played 
Joseph  AV.  Chitty,  one  of  the  most  renowned  Etonians, 
and  afterwards  Lord  Justice  of  Appeal.  In  1848  Edward 
W.  Blore,  afterwards  a  popular  Fellow  and  Tutor  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  made  his  first  appearance, 
and  in  1846  the  brothers  Aitken.  Blore  played  three 
years,  and  took  in  all  35  wickets  against  A\^inchester, 
and  33  against  Harrow.  In  1850  there  played  Charles 
Loyd  Norman,  the  first  member  of  a  large  Eton 
cricketing  family,  who  were  afterwards  specially  identified 
with  the  West  Kent  Cricket  Club. 

From  1850  a  wave  of  ill-luck  came  over  Eton  in 
the  annual  match  with  Harrow.  A  new  era  of  cricket, 
however,  was  commencing  at  Eton,  which  was  destined 
to  be  fruitful  of  remarkable  results.  This  was  a  great 
deal  due  to  the  eftbrts  of  two  Etonians,  G.  R.  Dupuis 
(who  played  first  at  Lord"'s  in  1851)  and  R.  A.  H. 
Mitchell,  the  finest  amateur  cricketer  of  his  day,  who 
made  his  first  appearance  in  1858. 


244  ETON    COLLEGE 

Mitchell,  one  of  the  finest  exponents  of  the  game 
of  cricket,  and  Dupuis,  one  of  its  most  learned  professors, 
both  became  Assistant-masters  at  Eton,  and  from  that 
date  cricket  at  Eton  became  a  serious  pleasure,  result- 
ing in  a  great  development  of  the  game.  The  period 
synchronised  with  the  advance  of  cricket  to  be  not 
only  a  great  game  at  schools,  but  a  popular  game 
throughout  the  country.  At  Eton  the  progress  of  the 
game  was  gi-eatly  due  to  the  influence  of  several  sets  of 
brothers,  who  carried  on  a  gi-eat  tradition  in  ever- 
increasing  repute.  Early  among  these  were  the  brothers 
Austen  Leigh,  of  whom  the  younger,  Augustus,  is  now 
Provost  of  King''s,  and  the  elder,  Edward,  is  Lower- 
master  of  Eton ;  they  were  indeed  brands  snatched 
from  the  burning,  or  sinners  reclaimed,  inasmuch  as 
their  elder  brothers  had  played  for  Harrow,  one  of  whom, 
Spencer  Austen  Leigh,  distinguished  himself  particularly 
in  the  Eton  and  Harrow  match.  It  may  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  the  high-water  mark  of  Eton  cricket  was 
reached  by  the  brothers  Lyttelton.  Lord  Lyttelton, 
mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  himself  a  Newcastle 
medallist,  sent  eight  sons  to  Eton,  of  whom  seven  played 
in  the  eleven,  including  three,  Charles  (now  Viscount 
Cobham),  Edward  (now  Head-master  of  Haileybury),  and 
Alfred  (Recorder  of  Oxford,  and  M.P.  for  Leamington), 
who  are  reckoned  in  the  highest  rank  of  amateur  cricketers. 
Another  great  family  of  cricketers  was  the  Lubbocks,  of 
whom  Alfred  Lubbock  was  the  hero  of  the  Eton  and 
Winchester  match  in  1863,  when  he  made  174  not  out. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  245 

while  E.  W.  Tritton  made  130  in  the  same  innings.  The 
Normans,  Barnards,  Pelhams,  Tollemaches,  and  others  are 
instances  of  family  influence  in  cricket.  In  later  years  the 
same  notoriety  was  gained  by  the  Studds,  and  still  later 
by  the  Pilkingtons.  In  these  pages  little  more  than  men- 
tion can  be  made  of  such  famous  public-school  cricketers 
as  James  Round,  T.  E.  Bagge,  C.  J.  Ottaway,  C.  I.  Thorn- 
ton (the  mighty  hitter,  '  Bloomin'  'igh,  bloomin''  'ard,  and 
bloomin'  hoften,'  to  the  delight  of  the  spectators),  Lord 
Harris,  A.  W.  Ridley,  F.  M.  Buckland,  W.  F.  Forbes, 
Hon.  Ivo  Bligh,  Lord  Hawke,  H.  W,  Bainbridge, 
F.  Marchant,  H.  Philipson,  H.  B.  Chinnery,  and  F.  H.  E. 
Cunliff'e.  Their  deeds  are  duly  chronicled  in  many 
books  of  cricket,  for  histories  of  the  game  abound,  and 
hardly  any  score  in  a  match  of  any  repute  has  escaped 
being  recorded  therein.  The  annual  struggles  between 
Eton  and  HaiTow,  and  Eton  and  Winchester,  have  been 
very  evenly  balanced,  Harrow  having  a  slight  lead  in 
the  former  case,  and  Eton  a  good  lead  in  the  latter. 
The  Eton  and  Winchester  match  was  played  at  Lord's 
early  in  August,  at  the  beginning  of  the  holidays,  until 
1856,  when  the  date  was  changed  to  June,  and  the  })iace 
to  one  or  other  of  the  two  schools  alternately.  The  Eton 
and  Harrow  match  continues  to  be  played  at  Lord's ; 
but  now  that  it  has  degenerated  into  something  between 
Barnum's  Show  and  a  gigantic  picnic,  there  are  not 
wanting  lovers  of  cricket  who  would  gladly  see  the  match 
fought  out  alternately  at  Eton  or  Harrow. 

For  some  reason  or  another  during  the  last  ten  years 


246  ETON    COLLEGE 

Eton  cricket  seems  to  have  lost  something  of  its  dash 
and  sting.  This  may  be  due  to  the  decline  of  the  family 
influence  alluded  to  before,  or  perhaps  to  an  undue 
prolongation  of  some  one  form  of  cricket  drill.  Probably 
the  true  cause  lies  in  the  difficulty  of  procuring  good 
wickets  in  fields  where  football  is  played  during  the 
winter.  Rough  wickets  are  a  bad  training  for  boys 
who  may  be  destined  to  wield  the  bat  on  such  a  billiard 
table  as  Lord's  Cricket  Ground.  This  defect,  however, 
will,  it  is  hoped,  be  shortly  remedied.  For  some  time 
the  only  cricket-grounds  were  those  in  the  playing-fields 
and  shooting-fields.  The  ground  in  the  Upper  Shooting- 
Fields  is  the  best  ground,  where  the  school  eleven  plays 
and  practises,  and  is  known  as  '  Upper  Club.'  The 
ground  in  the  Lower  Shooting-Fields  was  lately  occupied 
by  'Middle  Club.'  In  the  playing-fields  there  were 
three  or  four  games  possible,  the  best  known  being 
'  Sixpenny,'  apparently  so  called  in  true  Etonian  fashion 
because  the  subscription  to  it  was  a  shilling.  The  corner 
formed  by  the  wall  along  the  Slough  Road,  and  that  of 
the  house  at  the  corner  of  AVeston's  Yard,  known  as 
'  Sixpenny  Corner,'  was  the  historic  spot  for  pugilistic 
encounters.  Here  the  Duke  of  Wellington  fought 
'  Bobus '  Smith,  and  if  the  Duke's  often-quoted  and 
much-contested  remark  is  right,  that  the  battle  of 
Waterloo  was  won  in  the  playing-fields  at  Eton,  he 
was  probably  alluding  to  the  mills  at  Sixpenny  Corner, 
rather  than  to  the  more  civilised  contests  at  cricket  and 
football. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  247 

The  other  pitches  in  the  playing-fields  were  f^iven  to 
the  collegers  and  to  'Aquatics,'  where  the  'wet  bobs'" 
disported  themselves  on  dry  land.  When  the  demand  in- 
creased for  more  cricket  pitches, '  Sixpenny ""  was  moved  to 
the  gi-eat  field,  known  as  the  Timbralls  (or  Timbrehawe), 
which  became  the  recognised  cricket-field  of  the  Lower 
Boys.  In  more  recent  years  further  extensions  have 
been  made  across  the  Chalvey  brook,  and  in  1897  an 
immense  addition  was  made  to  the  cricket  acconniiotiation 
by  the  purchase  of  the  large  tract  of  land  extending 
towards  Slough,  known  as  '  Agar  s  Plough  "■  or  '  Dutch- 
man's Farm.''  Here  new  grounds  have  been  laid  out, 
and  it  will  be  possible  to  relieve  these  and  the  playing- 
fields  from  the  strain  and  damage  caused  by  the  winter 
football. 

Football  is  an  ancient  game,  and  has  been  played  at 
Eton  for  generations,  but  its  annals,  like  those  of  the 
poor,  are  'short  and  simple.'  Every  public  school  has 
its  own  set  of  football  rules,  drawn  up  gradually  ami  in 
direct  relation  to  the  spot  in  which  the  game  is  j)layed. 
There  are  two  games  at  Eton,  the  '  Field-game  "■  and  the 
'Wall-game.''  They  are  really  but  different  varieties  of 
the  same  game,  as  played  in  the  open  field,  or  in  a  long 
narrow  strip  against  the  wall.  The  '  Field-game '  also 
derives  its  rules  from  the  limitations  under  which  it  was 
played.  The  '  bully,''  like  the  '  scrunnnage '  in  Rugby  foot- 
ball, is  the  centre  of  the  game,  and  gives  sco\)v  for  the 
employment  of  any  number  of  boys  on  the  same  side. 
It  is  a  fast  game,  leading  to   much   brilliancy  of  play, 


248  ETON    COLLEGE 

especially  behind  the  bully.  As  the  ball  may  only  be 
played  with  the  foot,  the  Eton  game  is  in  distinct 
contrast  to  that  played  at  Rugby  or  Harrow.  The  game 
at  the  Wall  is  at  first  sight  difficult  to  understand,  but 
it  is  really  the  '  Field-game '  played  in  a  narrow  space.  As 
the  narrow  space  in  which  the  game  is  played  would  not 
admit  of  the  erection  of  a  goal  at  either  end,  a  variety  is 
introduced  by  the  desire  of  one  side  to  drive  the  ball 
down  to  the  rival  end  beyond  a  certain  chalk  line  (whence 
the  names  '  good  calx '  and  '  bad  calx,'  and  to  get  a  '  shy,' 
i.e.  to  be  allowed  to  throw  the  ball  at  a  goal,  marked  by 
a  door  in  the  wall  at  the  southern  end,  and  the  branch 
of  a  tree  on  the  opposite  side.  The  annual  struggle 
on  St.  Andrew's  Day  between  collegers  and  oppidans 
is  a  famous  event  at  Eton.  Owing  to  the  vicinity 
of  the  College  to  the  playing-fields,  and  to  the  fact  of 
this  particular  field  being  their  private  football  field, 
the  youthful  'tug'  is  brought  into  contact  with  the 
'  Wall-game '  at  an  earlier  age  than  the  ordinary 
oppidan.  The  collegers,  therefore,  though  so  much  fewer 
in  number,  start  with  an  advantage  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  game,  an  advantage  which  puts  them  easily  on  a  par, 
if  not  a  superiority  to  the  picked  eleven  of  oppidans. 

At  the  present  day,  now  that  football  has  become  a 
public  pastime  like  cricket,  the  football  world  is  divided 
into  great  sections,  those  who  play  according  to  the  rules 
of  Rugby  School,  and  those  who  play  the  rules  drawn  up 
by  a  Football  Association  some  twenty  years  ago  or 
more.     As  Eton,  Harrow,  and   Winchester  continue   to 


I 


THE    ORIGINAL    ETON    FIVES    COURT. 
From   a   Photograph   by    Thomas   Carter,    Esq, 


To /ace  p.  249. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  249 

adhere  to  their  own  time-honoured  rules  of  football,  they 
are  not  unfrequently  hindered  thereby  from  joinin"-  in 
the  University  matches  and  obtaining  a  coveted  '  Blue/ 
Suggestions  have  been  made  as  to  the  abolition  of  the 
special  public  school  games  in  favour  of  the  uniform 
Association  Rules.  It  is  a  matter  of  consolation  to  think 
that  the  Eton  'Field-game''  shows  strength  enough  to 
resist  all  such  insidious  machinations.  In  fact  the  train- 
ing of  the  Eton  game  is  for  sheer  dexterity  and  brilliancy 
of  play  the  best  school  for  a  boy*'s  mind  and  limb,  and 
the  best  preparation  for  the  '  bullies '  and  '  rouges '  of 
after  life.  The  '  house-matches,**  moreover,  whenever  the 
strength  is  evenly  balanced,  are  productive  of  the  keenest 
and  hardest  fought  form  of  mimic  warfare. 

Another  game,  which,  though  not  originally  so,  has  be- 
come a  purely  Eton  product,  is  that  of  Fives.  The  game 
of  Fives  in  its  original  form  was  little  more  than  knocking 
up  a  ball  against  the  wall  in  a  court  enclosed  on  three 
sides,  either  with  the  hand  or  with  a  kind  of  racquet. 
At  Eton,  chance  led  to  a  further  development  of  the 
game.  In  1694-95  a  new  flight  of  steps  was  built 
leading  down  from  the  north  door  of  the  chapel  into  the 
school-yard.  It  had  been  the  habit  for  the  boys  to  play 
fives  between  the  great  perpendicular  buttresses  upon  a 
sort  of  raised  platform.  The  new  steps  projected  across 
one  of  these  bays,  forming  a  second  platform  upon  a 
slightly  different  level.  This  afforded  an  extended  com- 
pass for  the  game,  which  was  further  complicated  by  the 
fact  of  the  side  wall  of  the  staircase  crossing  innneiliately 


250  ETON    COLLEGE 

under  the  projecting  part  of  the  chapel  buttress.  The 
eccentricities  shown  by  the  ball  in  striking  these  differently 
shaped  projections  produced  an  agreeable  diversity  in  the 
game.  A  quick  eye  and  good  head  became  as  necessary 
as  a  strong  arm  and  untiring  muscles.  There  was,  how- 
ever, only  one  court  among  the  chapel  buttresses  similarly 
provided,  so  that  in  1840  a  subscription  was  raised  to 
build  some  additional  and  regular  fives  courts,  exactly 
modelled  upon  the  accidental  court  against  the  chapel. 
In  1847  a  set  of  fives  courts  was  built  on  the  Eton  back 
road.  As  these  proved  after  some  years  to  be  quite  in- 
adequate in  number  for  those  wishing  to  play  the  game, 
a  set  of  eight  more  courts  was  built  in  1870,  of  an 
improved  description.  Since  then  so  popular  has  the 
game  become,  that  the  number  of  fives  courts  has  been 
very  greatly  increased,  each  house  having  one  or  two 
courts  allotted  to  its  own  use.  In  this  way  several  hun- 
dreds of  boys  can  play  the  game,  originally  played  by  two 
or  four  only  between  the  chapel  buttresses.  The  Eton 
game  has,  moreover,  spread  to  other  schools,  and  there 
is  hardly  a  school  of  any  importance  in  England,  public 
or  private,  which  does  not  possess  one  or  two,  if  not  more, 
fives  courts  on  the  Eton  model.  Few  players,  however, 
have  any  idea  of  how  the  eccentric  and  apparently  un- 
reasonable obstructions  in  the  court  first  came  into 
existence. 

That  there  was  a  tennis  court  in  Eton  in  the  last 
years  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  is  shown  by  entries  in 
the  Eton  Audit  books  for  '  making  the  tennis-court  side,"" 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  251 

1600-1,  and  'tiling'  the  court  in  1602-3.  Hornian  also 
alludes,  besides  football,  to  "  tennys  playe."  Tennis,  men- 
tioned at  Kton  as  late  as  1767,  is,  however,  a  game  better 
adapted  for  grown-up  men  than  for  growing  boys. 

Racquets,  in  the  modem  sense,  received  a  new 
development  by  the  building  of  two  new  covered 
courts  in  1866.  For  many  years  the  Eton  rac(]uet- 
players  held  their  own,  even  against  such  formid- 
able antagonists  as  the  champions  from  Harrow,  where 
racquets  is  included  among  the  serious  games  of  the 
school.  During  the  last  ten  years  or  so  the  interest 
in  racquets  at  Eton  has  shown  an  inclination  to  wane, 
partly,  perhaps,  owing  to  the  expenses  of  playing,  and  to 
the  fact  of  there  being  only  two  courts.  Latterly  the 
game  has  shown  signs  of  revival,  and  as  Eton  proved 
victorious  in  the  Public  School  Competition  for  1899,  it 
is  hoped  that  players  may  now  arise  to  emulate  the 
palmy  days  of  Alfred  Lyttelton,  Ivo  Bligh,  and  other 
racquet-champions  of  Eton. 

Of  other  games  on  land  few  have  taken  root  and 
become  popular  at  Eton.  Lawn-tennis  has  never  flour- 
ished ;  golf  is  an  impossibility ;  hockey  has  had  one  or 
two  fitful  periods  of  patronage,  but  is  now  impossible  for 
Eton  boys,  since  it  has  become  the  cherished  pastime  of 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  their  masters.  During  the 
half  terminating  at  Easter  a  pack  of  beagles,  kept  up  by 
subscription,  is  hunted,  and  forms  a  source  of  great 
attraction  for  the  longer-limbed  and  longer-winded  boys 
in  the  school,  besides  being  an  excellent  training  school 


252  ETON    COLLEGE 

for  future  Masters  of  Hounds. ^     Boys  of  insufficient  size 
or   standing,  or   deficient   in    cash    or   enterprise,    solace 
themselves  with  paper-chases  or  impromptu  steeplechases 
known  as  'jumping.'     During  this  half,  too,  take  place 
the    annual    races,    the    school    steeplechase,    the    mile 
race,  the  walking   race,  and    the    miscellaneous   athletic 
sports,  all   of  which  excite  the  keenest  competition  and 
enthusiasm.     Each  house  has  its  separate  athletic  sports 
as    well.     Many    well-known    racers    and    athletes    have 
made    their    first    appearance    in    the    sports    at    Eton, 
among  whom   may   be  mentioned  the  Hon.  A.  L.  Pel- 
ham,  who  won  the  Open  Championship  for  the  half-mile 
while  still  an  Eton  boy ;  Robert  H.  Benson,  the  hero  of  the 
sensational  dead-heat  with  E.  M.  Hawtrey  for  the  three 
miles  at  the  University  Sports  in  1872 ;   W.  P.  Phillips, 
the  sprinter,  who  died  not  long  after  leaving  Eton  ;  R.  H. 
Macaulay,  the  high  jumper  and  quarter-miler  ;  and  many 
others.     Fishing  during  the  summer  half  was  at  one  time 
a  favourite  pastime,  but  has  now  fallen   out  of  favour, 
partly,  perhaps,  through  the  decease,  natural  or  otherwise, 
of  the    legendary   monsters   who  were   reputed   to   have 
defied  the  efforts  at  capture  of  successive  generations  of 
Eton    boys.     In    former   days   a   game  of  billiards  in  a 
tavern  seems  not  only  to  have  been  recognised  as  lawful, 
but  was  even  shared  in  by  the  masters.     In  these  days, 
however,  when  the  tavern  has  been  degraded  into  a  drink- 
shop,  and  the  billiard-room  into  a  gambling-hell,  both 

^  For  a  history  of  the  Eton  Beagles  see  Eton  College  Chronicles, 
June  24,  1899. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  253 

taverns  and  billiards  have  had  to  be  put  under  a  most 
stringent  taboo.  Before  the  days  of  railways  riding  was 
often  permitted  ;  but  as  the  facilities  for  travelling  in- 
creased, the  restrictions  on  locomotion  became  more  severe, 
until  at  last  horses,  carriages,  and  even  the  all-pervading 
bicycle  are  forbidden  without  special  leave  to  all  Eton 
boys. 

One  pastime,  however,  remains  to  be  mentioned,  to 
some  eyes,  perhaps,  the  most  important  of  all,  namely, 
boating.  The  River  Thames  flowing  past  and  embracing 
Eton,  which  is  in  fact  situated  upon  the  ancient  bed  of 
the  river,  has  ever  been  the  source  to  Eton  of  an  advan- 
tage shared  by  no  other  school  in  the  land.  Westminster 
School  is  in  truth  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  same  river, 
but  the  pressure  of  civilisation  and  the  growth  of  trartic 
long  ago  made  the  Thames  at  Westminster  unfit  for 
navigation  by  slender  craft. 

Boating,  however,  though  by  no  means  objected  to  in 
itself,  except  for  the  danger  incurred  and  sadlv  illustrated 
on  more  than  one  occasion  by  boys  who  could  not  swim, 
was  still  a  matter  of  difficulty  owing  to  the  river  being 
out  of  bounds.  A  boy  might  go  on  the  river,  but  he  was 
not  allowed  to  go  to  the  river ;  at  least  he  could  only  go 
at  the  risk  of  infringing  a  curious  rule,  which  was  j)reva- 
lent  at  Eton  until  quite  recent  days.  Every  place  outside 
the  precincts  was  '  out  of  bounds.'  It  was  not  supposed 
that  Eton  boys  would  be  thus  cribbed  or  confined  ;  but 
it  was  necessary  for  a  boy  '  out  of  bounds '  to  '  shirk  ' 
or  avoid   being  seen    by   a   passing    master.     '  Shirking ' 


254  ETON    COLLEGE 

could  be  effected  by  diving  into  a  shop,  or  down  a  back 
street,  or  even  by  dodging  behind  the  imaginary  shelter 
of  a  lamp-post ;  but  if  a  boy  was  unlucky  enough  to  pass 
across  the  field  of  vision  in  a  master's  eye,  which  was  not 
by  any  means  invariably  on  the  alert  to  perceive  him,  the 
one  and  only  punishment  was  a  flogging.  The  curious 
part  of  it  was  that  boating  went  on  uninterruptedly, 
it  being  apparently  a  code  of  honour  among  the  masters 
not  to  walk  by  the  river  for  fear  of  seeing  the  boys 
on  it. 

Longboats  were  in  use  as  far  back  as  1762,  when 
there  were  three,  which  went  by  the  names  of  the  Snake, 
the  Piper's  Green,  and  My  Guinea's  Lion.  Those  boys  row- 
ing in  the  longboats  were  formed  into  a  kind  of  club, 
ruled  over  by  the  Captain  of  the  Boats,  who,  by  virtue  of 
this  dignity,  gradually  became  the  most  important  and 
the  greatest  '  swell '  in  the  school.  The  boats  were 
divided  into  two  divisions,  Upper  Boats  and  Lower  Boats. 
Quite  early  in  the  century  the  ten-oared  boat,  the 
Monarch,  appears  as  the  first  on  the  list,  stroked  by 
the  Captain  of  the  Boats.  The  other  boats  have  borne 
various  names,  those  of  the  Dreadnought  and  Defiance 
seeming  to  be  the  oldest.  By  degrees  the  number  of 
boats  has  been  fixed  at  nine  or  ten,  the  three  Upper 
Boats  being  now  Monarch,  Victory,  and  Prince  of  Wales 
(or  Third  Upper),  and  the  Lower  Boats  Britannia, 
Dreadnought,  Thetis,  Hibernia  (originally  manned  by 
Irish  boys  only),  *S'i^.  George,  and  Defiance,  with  Alex- 
andra added  on  occasions,  when  the    number   of  quali- 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  255 

fied  candidates  for  boating  honours  require  the  addi- 
tion. On  the  great  festivals  in  the  summer  half  of 
the  Fourth  of  June  and  Election  Saturday  the  boats 
rowed  up  in  procession  to  Surly  Hall,  some  two  and 
a  half  miles  above  Windsor,  where  they  disembarked  on 
the  opposite  bank  and  partook  of  a  champagne  supper, 
returning  afterwards  in  procession  to  the  lirocas,  where 
a  display  of  fireworks  took  place  on  the  eyot  near  the 
Windsor  shore.  At  first  the  boys  wore  fantastic  dresses, 
as  galley  slaves  or  something  similar,  but  since  181 4  a 
kind  of  uniform  has  been  adopted,  which,  combined  with 
the  separate  colours  and  emblems  of  each  boat,  and  Horal 
decorations  to  the  hat,  the  cockswains  being  attired  in 
naval  uniforms,  makes  the  spectacle  and  grouping  one  of 
the  most  attractive  sights  in  the  summer  season.  Even 
those  pageants  were  supposed  to  be  unknown  to  the 
authorities,  as  they  took  place  out  of  bounds,  anil  Pro- 
vost Goodall  and  Dr.  Keatc  always  professed  entire  igno- 
rance of  such  events. 

On  every  alternate  Saturday  after  tlie  Fourth  of  June, 
during  the  summer  half,  the  boats  rowed  up  in  procession, 
the  Upper  Boats  proceeding  to  Surly  Hall,  where  thev 
dined  oft' ducks  and  green  peas  and  champagne,  while  the 
Lower  Boats  returned  to  the  rafts,  where  they  indulged  in 
the  champagne  without  the  solid  food.  These  events 
were  known  as  '  check  nights,''  though  there  seems  to  be  a 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name,  one 
explanation  being  that  on  these  nights  the  faults  of  rowing 
were   checked,    another   not   attributing    it  It)    a   higher 


256  ETON    COLLEGE 

origin  than  the  check  shirts  worn  by  the  boys  on  such 
occasions. 

The  festivities  on  check  nights,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
Fourth  of  June  and  Election  Saturday,  were  not  unfre- 
quently  the  cause  of  some  disorder  and  not  a  httle 
scandal.  A  similar  charge  was  brought  against  an  insti- 
tution known  as  '  oppidan  dinner,"  a  banquet  held  in  the 
White  Hart  Hotel  at  Windsor,  and  of  which  the  authori- 
ties felt  themselves  obliged  to  profess  ignorance.  Dr. 
Keate,  in  fact,  kept  himself  so  duly  uninformed  of  the 
practice  of  boating  at  Eton,  that  when  Eton  rowed  against 
Westminster  at  Maidenhead  in  1831,  and  was  victorious, 
he  did  not  hear  of  it  until  the  news  Avas  forced  upon  him. 
Dr.  Hawtrey  was  the  first  Head-master  to  recognise  boat- 
ing as  an  authorised  institution ;  but  even  he  did  not 
remove  the  anomaly  of  its  being  out  of  bounds  to  go  to 
the  river.  Dr.  Goodford  was  very  much  alive  to  the 
abuses  of  check  nights,  and  in  1860  he  succeeded,  with 
the  help  among  the  boys  of  the  Hon.  C.  G.  Lyttelton, 
Captain  of  the  Eleven,  and  R.  H.  Blake-Humfrey,  Captain 
of  the  Boats,  in  putting  an  end  to  both  check  nights  and 
oppidan  dinner.  In  return.  Dr.  Goodford  allowed  boys 
to  go  down  to  the  boats  without  '  shirking,'  but  only 
during  the  summer  half.  This  privilege,  once  bestowed, 
was  not  long  in  extending  itself  to  the  whole  school  all 
the  year  round.  The  boys,  however,  were,  and  are  still, 
required  to  touch  their  hats  by  way  of  salute  to  any  master 
whom  they  may  meet.  Election  Saturday  was  a  cause 
also   of  some  disregard  of  school  discipline.     In   former 


•^ 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  257 

days  the  school  always  broke  up  for  the  holidays  on  a 
Monday,  and  all  work  and  duty  practically  terminated  on 
Saturday  afternoon.  To  remedy  this  the  day  of  breaking 
up  was  changed  to  Friday,  and  the  work  continued  up  to 
the  early  school  on  that  day.  Election  Saturday  had 
long  ceased  to  be  a  festivity  connected  with  the  election 
of  new  'tugs,'  and  had  become  a  carousal.  It  was  finally 
abolished  in  1867,  when  the  Fourth  of  June  remained  as 
the  only  real  festival  of  the  year. 

A  selected  '  Eight  "*  for  racing  seems  to  have  been  first 
formed  in  1820,  but  the  first  race  against  Westminster 
took  place  at  Putney  in  1829,  when  Eton  was  victorious. 
A  contemporary  account  describes  the  Etonians  as  racing 
in  broad  blue-striped  Guernsey  frocks  and  dark  straw 
hats,  like  sailors.  The  two  schools  only  met  at  intervals. 
Westminster  beat  Eton  for  the  first  time  at  Datchet  in 
1837.  The  first  meeting  with  Radley  took  place  in  1858, 
and  for  the  best  part  of  forty  years  the  latter  plucky  little 
school  has  aspired,  but  in  vain,  to  lower  tlie  Eton  Hag. 
In  1861  the  Eton  Eight  was  allowed  to  appear  for  the 
first  time  at  Henley  Regatta.  Eton  won  the  Ladies'' 
Plate  for  the  first  time  in  1864,  and  from  1866  was  suc- 
cessful five  years  in  succession.  Several  years  of  ill-luck 
then  ensued,  but  the  honour  of  Eton  has  been  strikingly 
vindicated  by  winning  the  Eadies'  Plate  seven  years  run- 
ning from  1892  to  1898. 

For  many  years  the  collegers  were  not  allowed  to 
boat  on  the  upper  reach  of  the  river  with  the  opjjidans, 
and   were   therefore  debarred   from  i)laces  in  the   Eight, 


258  ETON    C(3LLEGE 

although  they  were  able  to  figure  in  the  cricket  Eleven. 
A  colleger,  R.  G.  Marsden,  was  first  allowed  to  row  in  the 
Eight  in  1864,  the  first  year  Eton  won  the  Ladies"'  Plate. 

The  various  Eton  boat-races  and  the  chronicles  of  its 
'  wet-bob '  heroes  are  all  set  forth  in  the  Eto7i  Boating 
Book  by  R.  H.  Blake-Humfrey,  and  cannot  be  detailed 
here.  Mention  must,  however,  be  made  of  the  prominent 
part  taken  by  the  present  Head-master,  Dr.  Edmond  Warre, 
himself  an  old  University  oar,  in  encouraging  and  super- 
vising the  boating  arrangements,  not  only  for  the  Eight, 
but  also  for  the  smallest  wet-bobs.  He  was  ably  suc- 
ceeded as  a  coach  by  the  Rev.  Stuart  A.  Donaldson,  who 
rowed  in  the  Eton  Eight  for  1873,  who  in  his  turn  gave 
way  to  Mr.  R.  S.  de  Havilland,  an  Eton  and  Oxford 
oar.  Of  Mr.  de  Havilland's  success  little  need  be  said 
than  that  under  his  tuition  the  Eton  Eight  has  for  seven 
years  running  won  the  Ladies'  Plate  at  Henley  Regatta. 
Latterly  the  general  control  of  the  boating  for  Eton  boys 
has  been  in  the  capable  hands  of  Mr.  Walter  Durnford. 

Eton  has,  in  fact,  become  the  chief  nursery  for  rowing 
in  England.  The  boys  are  now  taken  in  hand  at  an  early 
age  and  taught  what  rowing  really  is.  The  Universities, 
therefore,  look  to  Eton  for  the  pick  of  their  oarsmen. 
No  greater  tribute  can  be  paid  to  Eton  rowing  than  the 
fact  that  some  years  ago  a  feud  took  place  in  the  Cam- 
bridge University  Boat  Club  owing  to  a  supposed  favour- 
ing of  Eton  oarsmen.  This  led  to  a  disinclination  of 
Eton  oarsmen  for  Cambridge,  and  a  dearth  of  Etonians 
in  the  Cambridge  Eight.     Since  this  date  Oxford,  with 


GEORGE,    5rH    EARL    WALDEGRAVE. 
From  a  Painting  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Waldegrave. 


To  face  p.  259. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  259 

six  or  seven  Etonians  on  board,  won  the  University  Boat 
Race  with  unbroken  regularity  until  1899,  when  a  return 
of  Etonian  oarsmen  to  the  Cambridge  flag  synchronised 
with  a  brilliant  victory  over  Oxford. 

The  Thames  cannot  be  quitted  without  mention  of 
bathing,  one  of  the  most  justly  popular  of  Eton  pastimes, 
and  one  in  which  Eton  is  singularly  jirivileged  in  com- 
parison with  other  public  schools.  The  Collegers,  being 
confined  to  the  lower  river,  were  allowed  to  bathe  in  the 
river  off  the  playing-fields,  and  as  early  as  1549  a  scholar, 
Robert  Sacheverell,  was  drowned  oft'  the  '  j^laying-lease ' 
at  '  le  bathing-place,'  being  carried  away  to  '  a  whirlpole."' 
The  oppidans  bathed  in  the  upper  river,  and  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  bathing-places  were  known 
as  Sandy  Hole,  Cuckoo  Ware,  Dead  Pile,  Pope's  Hole, 
Cotton's  Hole,  South  Hope,  and  Dickson's  Hole.  Of 
these  Cuckoo  Weir  is  still  the  bathing-place  for  the 
lower  boys.  South  Hope  is  probably  what  was  in  later 
days  called  Lower  Hope.  In  1794  the  fifth  Earl  Walde- 
grave  was  accidentally  drowned.  In  1840  a  boy,  Charles 
Montagu,  was  drowned  near  Windsor  Bridge,  and  it  was 
in  consequence  of  this  that  Mr.  William  Evans,  the 
drawing-master,  and  the  }\c\.  George  Augustus  Selwyu, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  porsuailed  l)i-.  Haw  trey 
to  recognise  boating  under  a  stringent  rule  that  no  boy 
should  be  allowed  on  the  river  until  he  had  passed  an 
examination  in  swimming.  The  well-known  bathing-places 
at  '  Athens,'  '  U})})er  Hope,'  and  '  Cuckoo  Weir '  were 
then   constructed.     Since  the  passing  of  this  admirable 


260  ETON    COLLEGE 

rule  a  fatal  accident  from  drowning  at  Eton  has  been 
of  the  rarest  occurrence. 

It  is  a  matter  for  the  deepest  regret  that  the  great 
increase  in  the  use  of  the  river  as  a  highway  by  the 
general  public  has  proved  a  serious  check  upon  the  liberty 
of  bathing  at  Eton.  Should  the  free  use  of  the  river  for 
bathing  ever  be  restricted,  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  most 
health-giving  exercises  for  youth  will  be  taken  away  from 
Eton. 

Some  obscurity  hangs  over  the  original  adoption  of 
a  pale  shade  of  light-blue  as  the  colour  or  badge  of  Eton. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  record  of  its  use  before 
the  race  against  Westminster  in  1831,  when  the  news  was 
communicated  to  the  Head-master  through  the  agency  of 
a  large  dog  profusely  decked  out  with  light-blue  ribbons. 
It  is  possible  that  the  battles  of  the  'Blues'  date  from 
the  Eton  and  Westminster  races,  for  the  Universities,  at 
all  events  Cambridge,  seem  to  have  only  borrowed  the 
idea  of  a  distinctive  colour.  Distinctive  colours  and 
badges  had  probably  been  worn  by  the  crews  of  the 
various  boats.  When  the  light-blue  was  once  adopted  as 
the  Eton  colour,  it  was  naturally  soon  worn  by  the 
Eleven.  In  1860  the  '  Field '  or  Football  Eleven  were 
allowed  to  wear  a  colour  of  Eton  blue  and  scarlet  quar- 
terly. The  adoption  of  a  football  colour  led  in  1862  to 
the  use  of  distinctive  colours  for  each  house  football 
eleven.  After  this  the  various  '  colours '  have  increased 
and  multiplied  to  an  extent  which  renders  them  only 
intelligible  to  Etonians  on  the  spot. 


SPORTS    AND    PASTIMES  261 

Another  innovation  under  Dr.  Goodford  in  I860  was 
the  formation  of  a  Volunteer  Rifle  Corps,  which,  under 
the  zealous  and  capable  connnand  of  Dr.  Warre  and 
other  Assistant-masters,  has  become  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant institutions  in  the  school.  The  numbers  in  the 
corps  became  sufficient  to  admit  of  its  being  enrolled  as 
a  separate  auxiliary  battalion  of  the  Buckinghamshire 
Regiment,  but  the  corps  is  now  known  as  the  4th 
Volunteer  Battalion  of  the  Oxfordshire  Light  Infantry. 
Good  drill  rather  than  marksmanship  is  aimed  at, 
for  the  rival  attractions  of  cricket  and  boating  render 
it  difficult  for  many  of  the  most  likely  shots  to  prac- 
tise at  the  butts  during  the  summer  half.  The  advan- 
tages of  systematic  drilling  for  boys  are  now  generally 
recognised,  provitled  that  there  be  no  excess  in  the 
direction  of  military  precision.  That  it  affects  the  whole 
school  was  well  shown  by  the  ease  and  complete  success 
with  which  the  Eton  boys  executed  the  complicated 
manoeuvres  of  a  torchlight  serenade  to  the  Queen  in 
Windsor  Castle  on  the  occasion  of  the  Jubilees  in  1887 
and  1897. 


XII 

ETON   AT  THE    PRESENT   DAY 

It  must  not  be  supposed  from  the  last  chapter  that  the 
only  antidote  to  the  ordinary  routine  of  work  in  or  out  of 
school  was  to  be  found  in  games.  A  more  serious  inter- 
lude was  often  performed  by  the  leading  boys  in  the  school. 
In  1811  Charles  Fox  Townshend,  a  member  of  a  family 
renowned  at  Eton  and  in  the  annals  of  the  State,  founded 
a  debating  society,  known  as  'The  Eton  Society.*'  At 
first  its  members  were  known  as  '  Literati.'  The  name, 
however,  by  which  the  Eton  Society  is  most  widely 
known  is  that  of  '  Pop,'  the  origin  of  the  name  being 
traced  on  fairly  certain  grounds  to  the  fact  that  the 
Society  met  for  some  years  in  a  room  over  a  confectioner's 
shop,  or  popina,  kept  by  Mrs.  Hatton.  In  1846,  on  the 
abolition  of  the  old  Christopher  Inn,  '  Pop '  removed 
itself  to  part  of  these  premises,  where  it  has  remained 
until  the  present  day,  although  the  old  inn  building  is 
now  at  the  time  of  writing  doomed  to  destruction. 

The  Society  at  first  consisted  of  twenty  members,  a 
number  afterwards  increased  to  twenty-eight.  Most  of 
the  brilliant  Etonians  of  the  early  part  of  the  century — 
Gladstone,  Selwyn,  Derby,  Sir  Francis  Doyle,  and  others 
— made  their  debut  as   orators  in    '  Pop,'  and  the  high 

262 


"S 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       263 

tone  of  the  debates  was  kept  up  until  quite  recently. 
In  later  years,  however,  when  the  qualifications  of  a 
boy  for  'Pop''  became  due  more  to  his  social  weight  in 
the  school  than  to  his  personal  talents,  the  quality  of  the 
debates  began  to  decline,  and  at  the  present  day  debates 
have  nearly,  if  not  altogether,  ceased  to  take  place  at  all, 
*  Pops ''  being  merely  a  select  cli(jue  of  chosen  '  swells.''  It 
is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  some  effort  may  be  made  to 
revive  the  drooping  glory  of  '  Pop ''  as  a  famous  Etonian 
institution,  and  that  the  familiar  rules  encased  in  Eton 
blue  on  the  walls  of  a  'sAvelPs''  room  may  denote  some- 
thing other  than  skill  in  rowing,  cricket,  or  football. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  the  five  most  famous  rheto- 
ricians in  Parliament — Chatham,  Fox,  Canning,  Derby, 
and  Gladstone — have  been  Etonians.  It  is  interesting 
therefore  to  note  that  the  decline  of  '  Pop "  as  a  school 
of  oratory  synchronises  with  the  decline  or  disuse  of 
oratory  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  to  conjec- 
ture, whether  the  decay  of  oratory  at  ^Vestminster  has 
damped  the  ardour  of  '  Pop,'  or  the  decline  of  the 
debates  in  '  Pop ''  has  exercised  a  deleterious  effect  on 
the  eloquence  of  public  men.  '  Pop,''  however,  was  the 
parent  of  several  similar  institutions.  A  debating  society 
was  instituted  in  College,  which  has  been,  and  remains, 
very  successful.  About  1875  a  similar  debating  society 
was  instituted  in  each  of  the  most  important  boarding- 
houses.  Though  a  marked  increase  of  eloquence  has  not 
been  so  evident  in  the  school  as  might  have  been  hoped 
for,  the   house   debating   societies  afforded    to   the   boys 


264  ETON    COLLEGE 

many  opportunities  of  collecting  and  putting  into  form 
their  thoughts,  and  some  practice  in  expressing  them. 

Literature  has  always  been  a  favourite  field  of  exercise 
for  a  budding  intellect.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1786 
that  it  entered  the  field  at  Eton  as  a  rival  to  cricket  and 
football.  In  that  year  three  Eton  boys,  George  Canning, 
John  Hookham  Frere,  and  '  Bobus '  Smith  started  a 
magazine  called  The  Microcosm,  mainly  a  collection  of 
essays  with  occasional  verse.  This  magazine,  the  first 
published  by  school-boys,  excited  great  curiosity  and 
interest.  It  was  carried  on  up  to  Election  1787.  It 
was  the  first  of  a  long  and  varied  series  of  periodicals 
edited  by  Eton  boys,  of  which  it  would  be  impossible 
to  give  a  complete  list  in  these  pages.  '  Gregory  Griffin 
of  the  College  of  Eton,""  the  supposed  editor  of  The 
Microcosm,  met  with  a  rival  in  1804  in  the  shape  of  one 
'  Solomon  Grildrig,'  who  edited  a  similar  magazine  called 
The  Miniature.  This  was  chiefly  edited  by  Stratford 
Canning,  who  Avas  assisted  by  Thomas  Rennell,  Henry 
Gaily  Knight,  and  Richard  and  Gerald  Wellesley,  the  two 
sons  of  the  Marquess.  The  latter  magazine  ran  for 
about  twelve  months  and  then  suddenly  became  of  his- 
torical importance.  The  boy-editors  found  a  difficulty 
in  the  matter  of  ways  and  means.  From  this  they 
were  saved  by  the  enterprise  of  a  young  almost  unknown 
publisher,  John  Murray.  Murray  was  in  this  way 
brought  in  contact  with  George  Canning,  and  from  this 
incident  rose  The  Quarterly  Review,  the  Tory  rival  of 
the  famous  Edinburgh  Review. 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       265 

The  next  literary  ventures  at  Eton  are  connected  with 
the  names  of  two  Etonian  writers,  who  can  never  be  for- 
gotten by  their  old  school,  Winthrop  Mackworth  Praetl 
and  John  Moultrie.  After  some  attempts  at  magazines, 
issued  only  in  manuscript,  such  as  The  College  Magazine, 
HorcE  Otios(e,  Apis  Matina,  and  others,  Praed,  assisted  by 
Walter  Blunt,  a  colleger,  published  in  1820  a  magazine 
called  The.  Etonian,  the  supposed  editor  being  one  '  Pere- 
grine Courtenay,  King  of  Clubs.'  Among  its  contributors 
were  boys  of  marked  literary  genius,  such  as  Moultrie, 
under  the  pseudonym  of  '  Gerard  Montgomery,'  Sidney 
Walker,  and  Henry  Nelson  Coleridge.  The  magazine, 
which  only  lasted  till  Election  1821,  when  Praed  left 
Eton,  had  a  most  remarkable  success,  and  several  imita- 
tions quickly  ensued.  In  1827  The  Eton  MmcUiini/ 
appeared,  among  the  contributors  to  which  were  ^V.  E. 
Gladstone,  Bishop  Selwyn,  Sir  Francis  H.  Doyle,  Frederick 
Rogei's  (Lord  Blachford),  and  Arthur  Hallam.  Other 
rivals  of  ephemeral  existence  sprang  up  along  with  TJw 
Miseellany,  among  the  contributors  to  which  were  Sir 
John  Wickens,  Lord  Lyttelton,  Dean  Goulburn,  and 
others,  afterwards  to  have  prominent  careers. 

The  literary  productions  of  public  schools  have  a 
tendency  to  become  ephemeral,  a  fate  perhaps  inevitable 
through  the  fact  of  their  being  originated  by  and  de- 
pendent on  the  zeal  and  interest  of  one  boy  or  a  group 
of  boys,  at  whose  departure  the  enterprise  languishes  and 
dies.  Such  was  the  fate  of  all  the  many  spasmodic  effu- 
sions which  hardly  any  generation  of  Etonians  failed  to 


266  ETON    COLLEGE 

produce.  Some  were  serious,  some  funny,  but  all  were 
ephemeral.  Mention  may  be  made  of  T%e  Observer^ 
edited  by  Vincent  Coles,  Vincent  Cracroft-Amcotts,  and 
W.  H.  C.  Nation  in  1859,  and  its  immediate  succes- 
sor, under  Coles  and  Amcotts,  The  Phoenix;  also  of 
another.  The  Etonian^  supported  about  1876  by  G.  N. 
Curzon,  J.  K.  Stephen,  C.  A.  Spring-Rice,  and  others. 
No  later  periodical  at  Eton,  however,  came  up  to  the  level 
reached  in  the  older  days  by  Canning,  Gladstone,  Praed, 
and  Moultrie.  Perhaps  an  exception  should  be  made  for 
the  verses  of  James  Kenneth  Stephen,  a  genius  of  the 
most  remarkable  promise,  who  was  prevented  by  a 
premature  death  from  attaining  the  full  maturity  of 
his  powers. 

One  periodical  publication,  however,  has  survived,  and 
shows  signs  of  a  prosperous  existence  for  an  indefinite 
period.  This  is  The  Eton  Chronicle^  a  fortnightly  publi- 
cation, founded  in  1863  by  W.  Wightman  Wood,  J.  E. 
Tinne,  Ashley  Pochin,  and  Henry  Nevile  Sherbrooke. 
The  Chronicle  does  not  pretend  to  do  more  than  its 
name  suggests.  It  is  probably  just  the  absence  of  any 
literary  flavour  which  has  caused  the  Chronicle  to  flourish 
for  so  many  years. 

Winthrop  Mackworth  Praed  was  also  the  originator  of 
a  scheme  which  was  to  prove  fruitful  of  much  good  to  the 
school.  At  some  of  the  other  public  schools,  like  Harrow 
and  Charterhouse,  which  had  begun  to  challenge  with 
success  the  supremacy  of  Eton  among  schools,  a  library, 
or  more  than  one,  was  provided  for  the  use  of  the  boys. 


!t 


.ysa:^-^ ' 


BACK    VIKVV    OK   THE   OLD    "CHRISTOPHER"'    INN. 
Frotit  a  Watcr-Qotour  Drawing  by  Philif>  Soriiian. 


'J'o/iicc  /•.  266. 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       267 

Praed,  feeling  the  want  of  such  a  library  at  Eton,  planned 
one  for  '  Pop,'  but  afterwards  enlarged  his  scheme  to  one 
open  to  the  whole  school.  This  library  was  first  started 
in  1821,  supported  by  subscriptions  among  the  upper 
boys,  and  located  in  a  room  of  the  Eton  bookseller, 
Edward  Pote  Williams,  who,  as  his  name  denotes,  had 
inherited  the  business  and  prestige  of  the  Pote  family. 
Dr.  Hawtrey  encouraged  the  scheme.  A  kind  of  library 
had  existed  in  a  cupboard  in  Upper  School,  but  was  (piite 
useless.  When,  however,  the  new  College  liuildings  were 
erected  in  1844  in  Weston's  Yard,  a  fine  spacious  library 
was  erected  in  them,  to  which  all  boys  who  had  reached 
the  middle  division  of  Fifth  Form  were  admitted.  To 
this  library  that  founded  by  Praed  was  removed.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  charming  spots  in  the  whole  of 
Eton,  and  admirably  calculated  for  the  purpose  of  cpiiet 
study  and  reading.  It  is  a  matter  for  the  deepest  regret 
that  the  further  extension  of  the  College  buildings  in  1887 
should  have  involved  the  destruction  of  this  beautiful  room. 
Uj)on  this  sad  event  the  library  was  removed  to  a  very  large 
room  in  the  New  Schools,  where  it  has  increased  greatly,  to 
a  large  extent  owing  to  private  donations  by  old  Etonians, 
such  as  those  of  Major  Myers,  the  present  adjutant  of 
the  Eton  Volunteers,  There  is,  however,  serious  need  for 
a  proper  school  library,  and  in  this  respect  Eton  has 
fallen  sadly  behind  other  public  schools.  It  nuist  be  re- 
meinbered  that  the  library  in  the  College  belonged  to  the 
College,  and  not  to  the  school.  Its  contents,  moreover, 
are  somewhat  of  an  antiquarian  nature,  so  that  it  would 


268  ETON    COLLEGE 

be  quite  unsuitable  to  make  any  attenn)t  to  merge  it  in  a 
school  library. 

Many  additions  have  been  made  to  the  school  build- 
ings during  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  chapel,  restored  in  the  base  Gothic  of  the  early  Vic- 
torian era,  has  been  further  beautified  by  the  addition  of 
a  new  organ-screen,  to  commemorate  the  Etonians  who 
lost  their  lives  in  the  Afghan  and  South  African  cam- 
paigns. Eton  Chapel  was  not  much  more  fortunate  in 
this  addition  than  it  had  been  in  the  case  of  former  bene- 
factions. Of  a  more  satisfactory  nature,  if  less  obvious  in 
their  import,  have  been  the  beautiful  tapestry  of  '  The 
Star  of  Bethelem,''  designed  by  Sir  E.  Burne-Jones,  exe- 
cuted by  William  Morris,  and  presented  by  Mr.  H.  E. 
Luxmoore,  and  the  large  painting  of  '  Sir  Galahad,' 
painted  and  presented  by  Mr.  G.  F.  Watts,  R.A.,  both  of 
which  works  of  art  are  a  distinct  adornment  to  the 
chapel.  The  chapel  had,  however,  long  ceased  to  be  able  to 
accommodate  the  whole  school.  For  a  time  the  Lower 
School  was  forced  to  attend  service  in  the  large  music- 
room,  erected  at  the  bottom  of  Keate''s  Lane  by  the 
Rev.  L,  G.  Hayne.  At  last,  however,  a  new  chapel  was 
erected  close  by  this  site,  in  which  about  a  third  of  the 
school  are  now  accommodated. 

New  class-rooms  also  became  a  necessity,  and  not  only 
was  a  new  block  added  to  the  'New  Schools''  in  1876,  but 
a  new  set  of  class-rooms,  including  a  lecture-theatre,  was 
built  on  the  site  of  the  old  mathematical  schools,  adjoin- 
ing the  new  Lower  Chapel.     The  cry,  however,  for  new 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT   DAY       2(59 

buildings  has  been  incessant,  and  new  laboratories,  work- 
shops, a  drill-hall,  &c.,  have  proved  severe  taxes  on  the 
resources  of  the  Governing  Body.  A  proper  school  library 
is,  however,  a  great  need,  and  also  a  speech-room,  large 
enough  to  enable  the  whole  or  the  gi-eater  part  of  the 
school  to  be  assembled  together  if  required,  although  for 
this  purpose  '  Upper  School '  has  for  generations  proved 
efficacious. 

'  Speeches  "■  have  ever  been  a  special  feature  of  Eton 
life.  They  have  taken  the  place  of  the  theatricals,  once 
so  much  encouraged,  of  which  Mr.  Francis  Tarver  is  the 
recent  and  sympathetic  historian,  and  also  of  the  disserta- 
tions or  declamations  which  the  elder  boys  used  at  one  time 
to  compose.  Speeches  are  the  sole  relic  of  these  customs. 
They  are  usually  delivered  in  Upper  School,  and  on  the 
principal  occasion  of  '  Speeches,""  the  Fourth  of  June,  the 
old  schoolroom  is  bright  with  the  faces  of  parents,  rela- 
tives, and  distinguished  visitors.  Upj)er  School  has,  how- 
ever, shown  a  want  of  elasticity  with  regard  to  the  growtii 
and  requirements  of  Eton.  It  has  for  some  years  ceased 
to  be  used  as  a  class-room,  except  for  examination  in 
trials,  and  now  is  thought  by  many  to  be  inadetjuate  e\cn 
for  the  purpose  of  speeches.  A  new  Speech  Room  is  there- 
fore urgently  required,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  want 
may  have  been  supjilied  before  the  nineteenth  centurv 
absolutely  comes  to  its  end. 

With  the  increase,  also,  of  the  numbers  in  the  school, 
and  the  raising  of  the  standard  of  lomfort,  some  addition 
has  been  necessary  to  the  boarding-house  acconnnodation. 


270  ETON    COLLEGE 

Some  of  the  old  houses,  including  the  old  building  of  the 
Chi-istopher  Inn,  have  been  found  to  be  entirely  unsuited 
to  modern  requirements,  and  in  some  cases  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  these  picturesque  relics  of  the  past  may  have 
to  give  way  to  buildings  constructed  from  a  more  ornate 
and  mercantile  point  of  view.  Nothing  illustrates  so  well 
the  difficulty  of  any  systematic  form  of  government  for  a 
great  public  school  as  the  haphazard  way  in  which  the 
boarding-houses  have  been  allowed  to  grow  up.  A  little 
vigilance  and  foresight  on  the  part  of  the  Provost  and 
Fellows  in  bygone  days  might  have  secured  to  the  College 
the  properties  within  or  neighbouring  to  its  precincts,  in 
order  to  provide  for  the  accommodation  of  the  oppidans. 
The  Fellows,  however,  clung  to  their  statutes,  which  they 
neglected,  and  their  revenues,  of  which  they  had  no  idea 
of  making  a  profitable  use.  The  oppidans,  being  only 
regarded  as  an  extra  in  the  school  under  the  old  statutes, 
had  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  good,  bad,  or  indif- 
ferent as  the  lodging-house  accommodation  might  be  in 
the  neighbourhood,  it  was  of  no  concern  to  the  College 
authorities,  provided  that  some  kind  of  order  and  dis- 
cipline was  maintained.  Hence  the  keepers  of  boarding- 
houses,  male  or  female,  had  to  rent  the  houses  themselves, 
some  at  exorbitant  rates  from  the  College  itself,  or  if 
they  had  money  enough,  to  buy  land  and  build  a  house 
to  hold  as  many  boys  as  possible,  which  they  might  hope 
to  dispose  of  with  profit  to  a  successor.  In  this  way  it 
was  possible  for  such  a  house  to  be  erected  as  that  built 
by  the  late  Bishop  Chapman,  and  since  occupied  by  Mr. 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT   DAY       271 

Wolley-Dod  and  Mr.  Daman,  an  eyesore  and  a  terror 
to  the  lover  of  the  picturesque,  of  which  so  much  still 
remains  at  Eton.  The  same  want  of  foresight  prevailed 
with  regard  to  the  security  of  the  lands  surrounding  Eton 
College.  One  of  the  paramount  requirements  of  a  great 
school  like  Eton  is  that  it  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be 
surrounded  by  open  land,  free  if  possible  for  the  boys  to 
indulge  in  their  games  of  cricket,  football,  shooting,  or 
jumping,  and  forming  a  barrier  to  the  ever-advancing 
surf  that  is  thrown  forward  by  the  ever-billowing 
metropolis.  And  yet  little  had  been  done  to  secure 
this  inestimable  benefit.  Some  of  the  surrounding  fiekls 
are  fortunately  protected  by  Lammas  and  other  Connnon 
rights,  but  on  the  London  side  the  College  was  defence- 
less. Slough  and  Datchet  slowly  developed  into  suburbs 
of  London  without  the  danger  being  noticed  by  the  Eton 
authorities.  Harrow  had  been  engulfed  by  the  pitiless 
flood,  but,  though  pro.vbim.s  unlet  UcalegX)n,  Eton  made 
no  sign,  and  it  might  be  said  almost  invited  the  attention 
of  the  jerry-builder  and  other  enemies  of  the  soil.  At 
last  the  danger  threatened  became  immediate.  Some  land 
adjoining  the  College  property  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Slough  road  was  sold  to  a  speculative  builder,  with  a 
prospect  of  adding  the  popular  amenities  of  workmen\s 
dwellings.  At  this  })oint  some  old  Etonians  intci-fered, 
and  a  subscrij)tion  having  been  raised,  the  land  was  j)nr- 
chased  and  handed  over  to  the  College  as  a  gift.  It  then 
became  known  that  the  huge  tract  of  land  on  the  other 
side  of  the   road,   known  as  '  Agar's '  or   '  Dutchman's ' 


272  ETON    COLLEGE 

Plough,  could  be  acquired.  This  news  seems  to  have 
surprised  the  Governing  Body  into  action,  and  now  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  new  playing-fields ;  and  future  genera- 
tions will  walk  beneath  the  shade  of  elms  or  limes  from 
the  gates  of  the  College  almost  as  far  as  Slough  itself. 
More,  however,  remains  to  be  done.  The  river,  the  sacred 
Thames,  the  artery  of  life,  which  makes  Eton  without 
a  rival  among  public  schools,  and  has  made  its  name 
famous  in  the  annals  of  all  who  love  the  water,  this 
river  is  within  measurable  distance  of  becoming  intoler- 
able, if  not  quite  inaccessible,  for  the  Eton  boys  to  boat  on 
or  bathe  in.  Year  by  year  the  metropolis  extrudes  upon 
the  neighbouring  country  increased  numbers  of  its  ant- 
like inhabitants.  Some  are  shot  out  for  the  day  in  noisy 
belching  steamers,  some  more  permanently  in  the  more 
innocent,  if  not  less  really  obnoxious  form  of  riparian 
residents.  Already  the  field  along  the  river  '  between  the 
Hopes'  has  been  acquired  by  a  Windsor  tradesman  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  villas  or  bungalows ;  and  the  time 
may  come  when  the  whole  river  from  Windsor  to  Maiden- 
head will  present  the  same  appearance  as  that  of  the  well- 
known  reaches  of  the  river  between  Putney  and  Mortlake, 
the  Windsor  race-course,  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  sub- 
urban meeting,  being  as  it  were  the  key  of  the  situation. 
Eton  on  terra  firma  has  been  to  a  cei*tain  extent  secured 
against  the  invader,  but  nothing  has  as  yet  been  done 
to  assert  its  rights  on  the  all-precious  water-way. 

At  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,   when   Eton 
College  has    existed  for    more    than    four   hundred    and 


Ill 

I' 

m 
i.i,"'t 


■|^  ^'. '' 


as     ^ 


z 


-     S 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT   DAY       273 

fifty  years,  it  is  astonishing — in  fact  it  almost  takes  away 
the  breath — to  think  how  much  of  the  advance  and 
progress  of  Eton  has  taken  place  chn-ing  the  century 
which  is  now  drawing  towards  its  end,  it  might  ahnost 
be  said  during  the  reign  of  her  present  Majesty,  the  age 
known  as  the  Victorian  era.  Allusion  has  been  made 
to  the  reforms  in  the  systems  and  subjects  of  school- 
work,  as  well  as  to  the  gradual  rise  and  establishment 
of  athletics  as  an  indispensable  factor  in  education.  The 
tendency  of  the  age  to  arrive  at  some  definite  convention 
of  existence,  to  eliminate  prejudice  and  fancy  in  favour 
of  some  accepted  compromise,  to  find  the  auream  medio- 
critatem,  is  well  exemplified  by  the  changes  which  have 
come  over  the  dress  of  Eton  boys  during  the  nineteenth 
century. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  trousers  had  not 
yet  become  a  universal  article  of  dress.  Boys  wore 
shorts,  loose  at  the  ankles,  white  stockings,  and  often 
low  shoes,  like  the  Blue  Coat  boys.  The  little  boys  wore 
broad  turn-down  cambric  collars.  Starch  had  not  yet 
enthroned  itself  on  the  cufi^'  and  shirtfront.  Wearing 
trousers  was  at  first  surreptitious,  a  'fearful  joy,'  dis- 
guised by  artifice  at  'absence'  or  on  similar  public 
occasions.  Collegers  might  not  wear  them  without  some 
dread  of  instant  execution.  In  1S14,  however,  trousers 
became  adopted  everywhere,  and  Eton  boys  ful lowed 
the  example  of  their  fathers  and  cousins.  One  reads, 
however,  of  tight  nankeen  pantaloons  with  Hessian  boots 
adorned  with  tassels,  or  duck  and  jean  trousci-s  strapped 


274  ETON    COLLEGE 

tightly  to  the  instep.  At  one  time  the  trousers  were 
yellow  and  baggy,  in  imitation  of  the  '  navigators '  or 
'  navvies '  who  were  employed  in  making  the  new  railway. 
No  regular  system  of  dress  was  enforced.  The  coat  was 
the  regular  'swallow-tail"*  or  dress-coat,  the  Eton  jacket 
being  the  same  coat  without  the  tails ;  '  a  coat  under  age,"* 
as  it  has  been  well  described.  By  degrees  the  rigidity 
of  this  coat  was  relaxed,  and  the  tails  reduced  in 
importance,  until  they  developed  themselves  into  the 
present  black  morning  coat.  Eton  was  thus  spared 
the  survival  of  the  dress-coat  which  is  still  worn  at 
Harrow. 

These  pages  are  not  the  place  to  ti'ace  the  genesis 
of  the  white  tie  from  the  clerical  and  academical  bands, 
or  to  follow  out  the  history  of  the  tall  silk  hat  from  the 
conical  hats  of  1600  to  the  rough  beaver  hats  of  1800, 
and  on  to  the  shiny  silk  hat,  the  'chimney-pot,''  the 
'  topper,'  '  top  hat  "*  (in  Germany,  cylinder),  or  whatever 
name  it  is  known  by  in  different  places.  The  adoption 
of  the  plain  black  coat,  white  or  black  tie,  and  silk  hat, 
has  proved  a  happy  medium  between  the  military  costume 
of  a  French  lycee  and  the  antiquated  fashion  of  a  school 
like  Harrow,  The  dress  is  necessarily  respectable  and 
gentlemanly,  and  attracts  little  though  sufficient  notice. 
It  inculcates  habits  of  cleanliness  and  tidiness,  lapses 
from  these  being  quickly  evident  in  the  dress  of  an 
Eton  boy.  As  it  entails  some  expense,  the  dress  calls  for 
some  care,  and  therefore  is  laid  aside  for  lighter  or 
rougher  garments  when  at  play,  or  for  easier  and  more 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       275 

comfortable  clothes  when  the  formalities  of  school  life  are 
relaxed. 

Many  writers  have  attempted  to  describe  an  Eton 
boy's  life,  but  few  have  succeeded.  Collections  of 
reminiscences  such  as  those  of  the  Rev.  W.  Lucas  Collins, 
A.  D.  Coleridge,  the  Rev.  W.  Hill  Tucker,  Charles  Allix 
Wilkinson,  James  Brinsley-Richards,  or  Alfred  Lubbock, 
will  bring  back  to  many  minds  incidents  of  their  past  lives, 
or  those  of  their  fathers  and  forebears  :  incidents  sanctified 
by  the  quasi-religious  halo  of  a  happy  past.  To  describe 
a  schoolboy's  life  is  well-nigh  impossible.  Those  who 
have  tried  to  do  so  have  been  compelled,  for  the  sake  of 
their  book,  to  make  their  boy  into  a  hero,  to  place  him 
in  the  unsuitable  '  choice  of  Hercules '  between  the  con- 
flicting powers  of  good  and  evil,  and  to  bring  him  through 
triumphantly  at  the  end,  like  a  hero  of  melodrama. 
Boys  are  seldom  so  dramatic  in  their  careei"s.  The 
incidents  in  their  life  are  immerous,  petty,  and  common- 
place, the  memory  of  them  for  the  most  part  fleeting; 
and  among  the  thousand  boys  at  Eton,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  prizes  in  work  or  athletics  must  be  to  the  few,  and 
that  the  many  must  live  through  a  course  of  unclassed, 
unnoted,  though  by  no  means  unhapj)y  insignificance. 
Such  a  life  is  most  happily  described  in  the  little  books 
A  Day  of  tnjj  Life  at  Eton,  a)id  About  Some  Felhxvs^ 
published  by  G.  Nugent-Rankes,  while  still  a  boy  at 
Eton.  But  to  the  general  reader,  not  being  an  Etonian, 
these  books,  however  fascinating,  can  be  little  else  than 
a   rather    wearisome    chronicle   of   small-beer,    in    which 


276  p:ton  college 

heroism,  ambition,  and  all  the  magnificent  qualities 
which  are  supposed  to  animate  the  heart  of  an  English 
boy  are  to  all  appearances  entirely  lacking.  Schools  are, 
however,  for  boys,  not  heroes ;  and  proud  as  a  school  may 
be  of  its  champions  in  the  lists  of  scholarships  and 
games,  or  of  their  success  in  after  life,  the  bulk  of  a 
schoolmaster's  time,  the  hardest  and  least  sympathetic 
side  of  his  work,  is  the  charge  of  the  innumerable  un- 
known, the  illustrious  obscure,  who  pass  in  battalions 
through  his  hands. 

It  is  a  commonplace  among  parents  of  Eton  boys,  and 
among  the  unsparing  critics  of  the  school,  to  comment  on 
the  little  apparent  progress  made  by  the  boys  in  their 
studies  at  school,  and  the  comparative  uselessness  in  after 
life  of  such  knowledge  as  they  acquire  at  Eton.  This  is 
an  unfair  view  of  a  schoolmaster's  duty,  which  is  not  to 
cram  knowledge  into  a  boy,  like  fattening  a  beast  for  a 
cattle  show,  but  to  induce  him  not  only  to  acquire  some 
knowledge,  but  also  to  put  it,  no  matter  how  small  it  may 
be,  to  some  material  use.  A  former  Eton  master,  William 
Johnson  {mult'ts  ille  bonis  fiebilis),  has  well  said  that  "  Eton 
is  not  a  mere  place  of  residence  for  people  working  avowedly 
for  an  examination,  a  place  which  one  is  to  leave  as  soon 
as  one  ceases  to  acquire  fresh  knowledge.  It  is  a  place 
which  contains  its  own  remedies  for  idleness,  if  people  will 
only  apply  them ;  a  place  in  which  there  is  charity  as 
well  as  selfish  prudence,  that  goes  on  hoping  and  looks  to 
a  distant  point." 

A   great  public  school  may  be  compared  to  a   fair 


ETON    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY       277 

garden ;  such  a  garden  as  the  memory  connects  with 
an  old  English  home,  a  deep-red  brick  manor  house,  a 
grey-stoned  crumbling  castle  or  grange.  Such  a  garden 
is  described  by  Bacon,  with  its  three  parts — "  A  Greene 
in  the  Entrance,  a  Heath  or  Desart  in  the  Going  forth, 
and  the  Maine  Garden  in  the  midst,  besides  Alleys  on 
both  sides."  It  is  easy  to  trace  these  divisions  in  a 
public  school — the  Green,  '  finely  shorne '  and  '  pleasant 
to  the  eye  ** ;  the  Heath  "  framed,  as  much  as  may  be,  to 
a  Naturall  Wildness "" ;  and  the  Main  Garden,  "  not  close, 
but  the  Aire  open  and  Free."  The  Head -master,  too, 
may  be  compared  to  the  gardener,  and  he  will  best 
succeed  who  pays  as  much  attention  to  his  ordinary 
plants  and  flowers  as  he  does  to  his  exotics  and  hot- 
house blooms.  Some  gardeners  may  gain  repute  from 
the  beauty  and  rarity  of  these  exotics,  and  the  j)rizes 
gained  by  them  at  flower-shows,  but  it  is  not  on  such 
flowers  that  a  true  garden  depends  for  its  charm  and 
fragrance.  Such  plants  may  be  the  more  interesting 
to  rear,  and  bring  greater  obvious  glory  and  rewartl, 
but  it  is  often  the  case  with  them,  that  the  richer  and 
more  highly  scented  the  blossom,  the  more  noisome  its 
decay. 

A  good  gardener  should  attend  even  to  his  hardy 
annuals,  for  without  due  care  they  may  present  but  a 
sorry  ap})earance  to  the  eye,  and  as  he  cannot  turn  all 
his  flowers  into  roses,  lilies,  or  carnations,  he  sliDulil  take 
a  pride  and  interest  in  his  violets  and  })riniroses  as  well 
as   in   his   peonies,  marigolds,  or  wall-flowers.      Nor  will 


278  ETON    COLLEGE 

a  good  gardener  try  to  cut  or  prune  his  shrubs  into 
one  particular  shape,  forcing  his  laurels  and  lilacs 
into  the  same  semblance  as  his  hedges  of  box  or  yew, 
even  though,  like  Bacon,  he  may  have  a  liking  for 
"  Little  low  Hedges,  Round,  like  Welts,  with  some  Pretty 
Pyramides." 

Then  again  a  schoolmaster  will  have  a  herbaceous 
border  in  his  athletes — strong  lusty  plants,  full  of  the 
sap  and  vigour  of  life — the  backbone,  it  may  be  said,  of 
his  garden,  needing  careful  supervision  to  restrain  them 
from  exuberance  or  encroachment. 

In  such  a  way  may  a  schoolmaster,  like  a  true  and  good 
gardener,  gaze  upon  his  garden,  rich  with  flowers  and 
fruit,  and  by  watchful  care  behold  it  growing  daily  in 
beauty,  fragrance,  and  vitality.  And  of  such  gardens 
there  is  none  more  fair  than  Eton. 

In  the  preceding  pages  some  attempt  has  been  made 
to  describe  the  great  changes  wrought  in  the  constitution 
of  Eton  College  during  the  later  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  A  question  may  naturally  be  raised  as  to  how 
far  the  character  of  the  boys  themselves  has  been  affected 
by  these  changes.  Does  the  school,  which  under  the 
original  Foundation  produced  a  Chatham,  a  Canning, 
and  a  Gladstone,  a  Wellesley  and  a  Wellington,  a 
Porson,  a  Praed,  or  a  Shelley,  still  continue,  in  spite  of 
the  cataclysms  in  its  constitution,  to  produce  boys  with 
the  same  destiny  of  fame  and  supremacy  in  after  life  ? 
There  is  no  sign  at  present  that  the  class  or  character 
of  the  boys  has  been  in  any  way  affected  by  the  some- 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       279 

what  startling  development  of  events  described  in  the 
last  chapters.  The  Eton  boy  remains  very  much  the 
same;  and  it  is  difficult  to  assert  with  confidence  that 
he  is  any  better  or  Avorse  for  the  many  reforms  in  the 
educational  machine  whereby  his  teachers  are  trying  to 
grind  him  into  shape.  This  result  is  perhaps  mainly 
due  to  that  all-pervading  element  in  the  Eton  system 
which  has  done  so  much  to  form  and  maintain  the 
peculiar  character  of  an  Eton  boy,  the  almost  entire 
reliance  by  the  masters  upon  the  boys  themselves,  as 
the  best  legislators  for  their  own  personal  rules  of  honour 
and  prestige. 

A  boy  on  coming  to  Eton  for  the  first  time  finds 
out  at  once  that  he  has  to  make  and  keep  a  position 
for  himself,  however  small  it  may  be,  and  that  it  is  upon 
the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  his  comrades,  rather 
than  upon  the  protection  afforded  him  by  his  masters, 
that  he  must  rely  for  his  happiness  and  comfort  in  his 
school-life.  He  thus  quickly  becomes  conscious  of  re- 
sponsibilities— of  duties  to  perform  and  unwritten  laws 
to  obey.  These  at  last  become  mere  matters  of  daily 
routine,  until  one  day  he  discovers  that  a  great  change  has 
taken  place  in  his  position,  and  that  where  before  he  was 
content  to  obey  and  follow,  he  is  suddenlv  called  upon  to 
lead  and  perhaps  eventually  to  govern.  This  microcosm 
of  authority,  watched  over  and  tended  with  affectionate 
anxiety  by  the  authorities,  is  the  real  nourishing  saj)  of 
Eton  as  a  school.  It  is  this  which  makes  Eton,  as  an 
eminent  living  Etonian  has  justly  said,  '  breed  capttuns.' 


280  ETON    COLLEGE 

In  every  walk  of  life  where  a  leader  is  required  there  is 
seldom  any  man  better  equipped  for  the  purpose  than 
an  Etonian,  and,  more  important  still,  there  is  seldom 
any  man  so  willingly  followed,  be  it  in  peace  or  war,  by 
his  subordinates. 

In  politics  Eton's  line  of  Prime  Ministers  has  been 
continued  from  Mr,  Gladstone  and  the  Earl  of  Derby 
by  the  Marquess  of  Salisbury  and  the  Earl  of  Rosebery, 
and  seems  likely  to  be  further  continued  by  the  present 
Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Right  Hon. 
Arthur  James  Balfour.  Etonians  have  been  conspicuous 
in  the  Governments  of  both  great  parties  in  the  State. 
On  the  Conservative  side  have  been  George  Ward  Hunt, 
the  Earl  of  Carnarvon,  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach,  Bart.,  the 
present  Earl  of  Derby,  the  Earl  Cadogan,  the  INIarquess  of 
Lansdowne,  Lord  Balfour  of  Burleigh,  the  Marquess  of 
Lothian,  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  Sir  William  Walrond, 
Gerald  William  Balfour,  Aretas  Akers-Douglas,  the 
Marquess  of  Londonderry,  Earl  Brownlow,  Lord  Windsor, 
the  Hon.  George  Nathaniel  Curzon  (now  Lord  Curzon  of 
Kedleston),  the  Hon.  W,  St.  John  Brodrick,  George  Wynd- 
ham,  and  W.  G.  Ellison-Macartney.  On  the  Liberal  side 
have  been  the  Earl  of  Kimberley,  George  J.  Shaw- 
Lefevre,  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  Sir  Arthur  Divett  Hayter, 
Bart.,  C.  Seale-Hayne,  Earl  Carrington,  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
Lord  Monkswell,  Lord  Edmond  Fitzmaurice,  Herbert 
J.  Gladstone,  and  before  the  great  Home  Rule  disruption, 
John  G.  Dodson  (Lord  Monk  Bretton),  E.  Heneage,  and 
the  Earl  of  Morley.     To  the  dignified  form  of  Mr.  Brand 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       281 

in  the  Speaker's  chair  succeeded  another  Etonian,  perhaps 
even  more  dignified  still,  Arthur  Wellesley  Peel,  the  Peel 
undecimus  of  former  days.  A  tribute  to  the  utility  of 
an  Eton  training  is  shown  by  the  large  proportion  of 
Etonians  chosen  to  act  as  Parliamentary  Whips  for  either 
party  during  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years. 

Eton  still  remains  the  chief  nursery  of  the  jieerage, 
though  it  would  tax  the  utmost  energies  of  the  Eord 
Chamberlain's  department  to  enumerate  the  numerous 
scions  of  the  nobility  who  have  been  educated  at  Eton 
with  varying  degrees  of  success.  A  mere  list,  however, 
of  titled  alumni  would  be  no  criterion  of  Eton's  success 
as  a  school.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  striking  tributes 
to  Eton  is  the  share  it  has  had  in  that  movement  of 
events  which  may  be  described  as  controlled  by  the 
imperial  idea.  In  the  administration  of  the  Indian 
Empire  and  the  Colonies,  not  only  have  the  highest 
posts  been  filled  by  Etonians,  but  many  of  those 
also  which  are  almost  as  important  if  they  are  less 
conspicuous  and  offer  but  little  opportunity  for  per- 
sonal distinction.  It  has  been  said  that  the  sun  never 
sets  on  the  British  Empire ;  and  if  this  be  true,  it 
almost  follows  as  a  corollary  that  the  sun  never  sets 
on  Eton. 

The  government  of  India  has  been  to  a  great  extent 
in  the  hands  of  Etonians.  Since  the  days  of  Cornwallis, 
Wellesley,  and  Metcalfe  no  less  than  eight  Governors- 
General  and  Viceroys  of  India  have  been  Etonians  :  Lorti 
Auckland,  the  Earl  of  Ellenborough,  Earl   Cainiing,  the 


282  ETON    COLLEGE 

Earl  of  Elgin,  the  Marquess  of  Dufferin,  the  Marquess 
of  Lansdowne,  yet  another  Earl  of  Elgin — a  worthy 
successor  of  a  great  name  at  a  difficult  period  in 
the  history  of  Lidia — and  the  present  Viceroy,  Lord 
Curzon  of  Kedleston,  whose  distinguished  career  at 
Eton  foreshadowed,  like  those  of  Canning  and  Glad- 
stone, the  prominent  part  in  public  life  which  he  has 
played,  and  seems  destined  to  continue  with  increased 
prestige. 

The  provinces  of  India  have  also  been  administered 
by  many  Etonians.  It  has  been  said  that  a  majority  of 
them  were  at  one  time  governed  simultaneously  by  Etonians 
who  had  boarded  at  the  same  house  when  Eton  boys.  It 
will  be  sufficient  perhaps  to  point  to  the  two  distinguished 
brothers,  Sir  Alfred  C.  Lyall  and  Sir  James  Lyall,  to  Sir 
Auckland  Colvin,  William  Mackworth  Young,  Sir  Stewart 
Colvin  Bayley,  Sir  Lyttelton  Holyoake  Bayley,  Sir  Mount- 
stuart  Jackson,  as  examples  of  those  whose  Eton  training 
has  helped  them  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  great 
dependency,  in  some  cases  at  the  risk  or  even  actual  cost  of 
their  lives.  A  similar  prominence  is  shown  by  Etonians  in 
the  administration  of  the  difficult  and  checkered  affairs  of 
the  moribund  Turkish  Empire.  Few  at  Eton  could  have 
foreseen  the  part  destined  to  be  played  by  Sir  Edgar 
Vincent  and  Sir  Vincent  Caillard  in  the  history  of  Turkish 
finance,  or  that  played  in  Egypt  by  Sir  Charles  Rivers 
Wilson,  or  a  few  years  ago  by  Sir  Gerald  Portal  and  at 
present  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Gorst,  in  Crete  by  Sir  Herbert 
Chermside,    in    Zanzibar    by    Sir    Arthur    Hardinge,    in 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       283 

Uganda  by  the  late  Major  Roderick  Owen,  and  in  Rhodesia 
by  the  Hon.  Arthur  Lawley,  Tlie  Dominion  of  Canada 
has  also  been  ruled  by  Etonians,  in  the  shape  of  Earl 
Cathcart,  Lord  Lisgar,  the  Marquess  of  Dufferin,  the 
Marquess  of  Lansdowne,  the  Marcjuess  of  Lome,  and  the 
present  Earl  of  Derby ;  and  the  Viceroy  at  the  present 
day  is  a  well-known  and  popular  Etonian,  the  Earl  of 
Minto. 

The  other  colonies  too  have  had  their  share  in  Eton 
as  an  element  of  government.  New  South  \\'ales  has  hail 
Sir  William  Denison,  Lord  Lisgar,  and  the  Earls  of 
Belmore,  Carrington,  Jersey,  and  Beauchamp;  Victoria, 
the  Earl  of  Hopetoun  ;  South  Australia,  the  Earl  of 
Kintore  ;  Queensland,  Lord  Lamington  ;  West  Australia, 
Sir  Gerard  Smith ;  New  Zealand,  the  Earl  of  Onslow ; 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Sir  Philip  Wodehouse. 

At  home  the  gift  of  '  captaincy,'  tauglit  at  Eton,  has 
been  well  tested  in  the  Civil  Service.  In  former  days, 
when  the  posts  in  the  Civil  Service  were  either  mere  sine- 
cures or  given  by  the  private  patronage  of  the  Ministers 
in  power,  it  was  not  surprising  that  many  posts  were  held 
by  Etonians  as  scions  of  the  chief  governing  families  in 
the  land.  At  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in 
the  more  regenerate  days  when  the  posts  in  the  Civil 
Service  are  thrown  open  to  public  competition  and 
promotion  is  chiefly  by  merit,  it  is  all  the  more  satis- 
factory to  find  that  so  many  of  the  highest  and  most 
responsible  posts  in  the  Civil  Service  are  still  held 
by  Etonians,  and  to  learn  that  in  a  public  oflice  no  man 


284 


ETON    COLLEGE 


is    so    likely    to    get    on  well    as    one    who   has   been    an 
Eton  boy. 

The  following  posts    held  recently  or  at   present   by 
Etonians  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  their  influence  : — 


The  Treasury^  Secretary    .     .     .  Lord  Welby. 

„         Assistant-Secretary  Sir  Edward  Hamilton. 
,,         Principal  Clerk  and 
Auditor    of    the 

Civil  List.      .     .  Stephen  E.  Spring--Rice. 
Admiralty,  Principal  Clerk     .     .  H.  F.  Vausittart-Neale. 
Colonial  Office,  Permanent  Un- 
der Secretary  of  State      .     .     .  Sir  Robert  G.  W.  Herbert. 
Council  of  Education,  Secretary  .  Sir  George  W.  Kekewich. 
Office  of  Works,  Secretary      .     .  Algernon  B.  Mitford. 

,,  ,,  ,,  ...  Reginald     B.     Brett     (Viscount 

Esher). 

C^omptroUer  and  Auditor-General  Sir  Charles  Lister  Ryan. 

Registrar-General Sir  Brydges  P.  Henniker. 

Privy  Council,  Registrar    .     .     .  Edward  S.  Hope. 
India    Office,    Assistant    Under- 
Secretary  Sir  Horace  George  Walpole. 

India  Office,  Principal  C'lerk  .     .  Richmond  T.  W.  Ritchie. 
Foreign  Office,  Permanent  Under 

Secretary     .      .  Sir  Francis  B.  Alston. 
„                ,,             ,,         .  Sir  Thomas  H.  Sanderson. 
„           Chief  Clerk      .     .  Sir  George  E.  Dallas. 
,,           Assistant     Under- 
Secretary       .     .  Hon.  F.  L.  Bertie. 

_        _  „        ^  (  Sir  Stevenson  A.  Blackwood. 

Post-Omce,  Secretary    .     .     .     .  ;  ,,.    ^^  ,,,  i     i 

•^  (  Sir  Spencer  \\  alpole. 

„  Financial  Secretary  .  Algernon  Turnor. 

Board  of  Trade,  Assistant-Secre- 
tary        Hon.  Thomas  H.  W.  Pelham. 

Ordnance      Factories,       Deputy 

Director-General Hay  Frederick  Donaldson. 


ETON    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY       285 

Civil  Service  Commission   .     .     .  I^ord  Francis  Ilervey. 

Charity  Commission Sir  George  Youn^,  Bart. 

„  ,,  Richard  Durnford. 

Prisons  Commission,  Chairman  .  Evelyn  J.  llufTfjles-Brise. 

Railway  and  Canal  Commissioner  Viscount  Cohliam. 

British  Museum,  Keeper  of  An- 
tiquities      Sir  Augustus  W^ollaston  Franks. 

National    Portrait    Gallery,    Di- 
rector    Lionel  C  ust. 

Record  Office,  Deputy-Keeper  Sir  Henry  C.  Maxwell- F^yte. 

Woods  and  ForestSjC-'ommissioner  John  F.  Ilorner. 

The  Mint,  Deputy-Master       .     .  Hon.  Charles  Fremantle. 

Crown    Office,   House  of  Lords, 

Chief  Clerk Adolphus  (i.  C.  Liddell. 

The  Foreign  Office  and  Diplomatic  profession  being 
careers  in  which  the  advantages  of  birth  and  wealth  j)lav 
a  leading  part,  have  ever  presented  an  obvious  field  for 
the  budding  Etonian,  and  one  in  wliich  an  I'iton  tiaining 
is  especially  valued.  It  is  sufficient  to  point  to  the  names 
of  Sir  Henry  G.  Elliot,  Sir  Edward  Malet,  Sir  Edward 
Monson,  Lord  Vivian,  Lord  Currie,  Sir  Francis  Clare  Ford, 
Sir  Martin  Gosselin,  Sir  Arthur  Hardinge,  Sir  Edwin 
Egerton,  and  the  Man(uess  of  Dufferin  as  instances  of  the 
part  already  played  by  Etonians  in  the  aff'aiis  of  Eurojie, 
and  to  look  forward  to  such  acconi])lishcd  diplomats  as 
the  Hon.  Michael  Herbert,  Cecil  A.  Spring-Rice,  George 
H.  Barclay,  and  others  to  do  the  san)e  in  the  ftitin-c. 

Finance  is  a  field  in  which  Etonians  might  U'ss  be 
expected  to  succeed.  For  generations,  however,  the 
members  of  the  great  banking  families  in  the  city  of 
London  have  been  educated  at  Eton,  and  it  is  not  there- 


286  ETON    COLLEGE 

fore  surprising  that  there  should  be  a  preponderance  of 
Etonians  upon  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bank  of 
England. 

Under  the  new  statutes  Eton  has  been  deprived  of  many 
advantages  which  tended  to  draw  some  of  its  most  eminent 
sons  to  the  Church  as  a  profession.  It  is  therefore  satisfac- 
tory to  find  that  on  the  present  bench  of  Bishops  four  are 
Etonians :  Lord  Alwyne  Compton  (Ely),  the  Hon.  and 
Rev.  Augustus  Legge  (Lichfield),  J.  C.  Ryle  (Liverpool), 
and  G.  W.  Kennion  (Bath  and  Wells) ;  while  the  See  of 
Oxford  was  recently  occupied  by  James  F.  Mackarness. 
Among  the  Suffragan  bishops  should  be  noted  the  Hon.  and 
Rev.  Arthur  T.  Lyttelton  (Southampton),  and  Alfred  Earle 
(Marlborough),  and  among  Colonial  bishops  Edward  Hob- 
house,  Bishop  of  New  Zealand,  and  John  Coleridge  Patte- 
son,  the  martyred  Bishop  of  Polynesia  ;  John  Richardson 
Selwyn,  Bishop  of  Melanesia ;  James  E.  C.  Welldon,  lately 
Head-master  of  Harrow,  and  now  Bishop  of  Calcutta  and 
Metropolitan  of  India,  and  John  Reginald  Harmer,  now 
Bishop  of  Adelaide.  Eton  also  has  contributed  some  of 
its  most  active  workers  to  the  Church  in  London,  such 
as  Henry  Scott-Holland,  Charles  Wellington  Furse,  Basil 
Wilberforce,  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  James  G.  Adderley,  the 
Hon.  and  Rev.  Algernon  G.  Lawley,  J.  H.  J.  Ellison  (now 
at  Windsor),  and  Stewart  Headlam.  The  Eton  Mission  at 
Hackney  Wick,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Rev.  St.  Clair 
Donaldson,  is  in  itself  a  tribute  to  the  active  interest  taken 
by  Eton  and  Etonians  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  charity. 
Dr.  Edward  Bouverie  Pusey  was  the  leader  at  Oxford  of  a 


ETON    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY       287 

High  Church  revival,  which  had  a  most  powerful  influence 
on  his  contemporaries.  At  the  present  moment,  when 
another  contest  of  a  somewhat  critical  nature  is  raging  in 
the  Church,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  two  of  the 
principal  antagonists.  Viscount  Halifax  and  Lord  Kiii- 
naird,  arc  Etonians.  Among  other  past  and  ])resent 
dignitaries  of  the  Church  may  be  noted  Canon  Venables 
of  Lincoln,  the  Rev.  Rowland  Williams,  Vice-Principal 
of  Lampeter,  Canon  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  W.  H.  Fremantle 
of  Ripon,  the  Rev.  Charles  B.  Scott,  Dean  of  Itochester 
(formerly  Head-master  of  Westminster,  and  joint  author 
of  Liddell  and  Scotfs  Greek  Lexicon)^  Vincent  Stuckey 
Coles,  Principal  of  Pusey  House,  Oxford,  Winfrid 
Burrows,  Head  of  the  Clergy  School  at  Leeds,  and 
others,  who  testify  that  at  Eton  religion,  if  not  brought 
so  prominently  forward  in  education  as  elsewhere,  luvs 
been  far  from  being  neglected  or  kept  in  the  back- 
ground. 

At  the  Universities  Eton  has  held  its  own  i)otb  in 
scholarship  and  its  share  in  the  administration  ;  and  the 
names  may  be  mentioned  of  the  Hon.  and  l{ev.  (ieorge 
Brodrick,  Warden  of  Merton  College,  Oxford  ;  Sir  Wil- 
liam Reynell  Anson,  President  of  All  Souls'  College, 
Oxford  ;  R.  Shute,  Tutor  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford  :  Paul 
F.  Willert,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Exeter  C'ollege  ;  Ivlward 
H.  Hayes,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  New  College;  William  H. 
Forbes,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford; 
Norman  M.  Ferrers,  Master  of  Caius  College,  CaMd)ridge; 
Augustus  Austen  Leigh,  Provost  of  King's  College,  ("am- 


288  ETON    COLLEGE 

bridge ;  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Latimer  Neville,  Master  of 
Magdalene  College,  Cambridge  ;  Herbert  E.  Ryle,  Presi- 
dent of  Queens'  College,  Cambridge ;  Henry  Bradshaw, 
Librarian  of  Cambridge  University  ;  John  Willis  Clark, 
Registrary  of  Cambridge  University  ;  and  Edward  W. 
Blore,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 
In  the  ranks  of  Professors  or  Schoolmasters  are  or  have 
been,  in  addition  to  Thring  of  Uppingham  and  Welldon 
of  Harrow,  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Edward  Lyttelton,  Head- 
master of  Haileybury;  Edward  Cams  Selwyn,  Head-master 
of  Uppingham  ;  Edward  Mallet  Young,  Head-master  of 
Sherborne ;  Thomas  F.  Kirby,  Bursar  of  Winchester ; 
Henry  C.  Goodhart,  Professor  of  Humanity  at  Edin- 
burgh ;  George  W.  Prothero,  Professor  of  History  at 
Edinburgh  ;  Sir  Roland  Knyvett  Wilson,  Reader  in  Indian 
Law ;  Francis  W.  Maitland,  Downing  Professor  of  Law  at 
Cambridge ;  Goldwin  Smith,  formerly  Professor  of  Modern 
History  at  Oxford  ;  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  Professor  of 
Jurisprudence  at  Oxford ;  Lord  Rayleigh,  Senior  Wrangler 
and  Professor  of  Experimental  Physics  at  Cambridge ; 
Henry  A.  Miers,  Professor  of  Mineralogy  at  Oxford ;  and 
Gilbert  C.  Bourne,  University  Lecturer  in  Animal  Mor- 
phology at  Oxford. 

Public  life  in  the  I^ondon  County  Council  has  brought 
into  prominent  notice  Willoughby  H.  Dickinson  and 
Henry  P.  Harris ;  while  the  rival  attractions  of  the 
London  School  Board  have  been  profitable  to  the  Hon. 
Lyulph  Stanley,  Athelstan  Riley,  Evelyn  Cecil,  William 
C.  Bridgeman,  and  other  energetic  Etonians. 


ETON    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY       289 

The  Law  has  afforded  several  Etonians  opportunities 
for  distinction,  notably  Sir  James  Fitzjames  Stephen,  Sir 
Henry  Cotton,  Sir  Joseph  W.  Chitty,  the  Hon.  Alfred 
Thesiger,  Sir  A.  Kekewich,  Sir  William  Rami  Kennedy, 
who  all  attained  the  Rench ;  Henry  J.  Rushby  and  Wynd- 
ham  Slade,  the  London  magistrates;  George  H.  Frmson, 
Commissioner  in  Lunacy  ;  Herbert  James  Hope,  Jiegistrar 
of  the  Court  of  Rankruptcy ;  and  (Jeorge  S.  Rarnes, 
Official  Receiver  of  Companies  in  Liquidation ;  while 
among  those  likely  to  attain  further  distinction  at  the 
Rar  are  F.  A.  Rosanquet,  Q.C.,  Recorder  of  \Volver- 
hampton,  the  present  Lord  Coleridge,  the  Hon.  Alfred 
Lyttelton,  Recorder  of  Oxford,  John  F.  P.  Rawlinson, 
Recorder  of  Cambridge,  John  Eldon  Rankes,  George 
P.  C.  Lawrence,  and  Lord  Robert  Cecil. 

The  Army  has  ever  drawn  largely  on  Eton  for  its 
officers,  and  wherever  the  flag  of  England  has  waved  in 
battle  there  have  many  Etonians  laid  down  their  lives 
for  their  country — in  the  Crimea,  in  South  Africa,  Af- 
ghanistan, and  the  Soudan.  The  most  prominent  Etonian 
in  the  army  is  Field-Marshal  liOrd  Roberts,  who,  like  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  was  not  remarkable  in  any  wav  when 
at  Eton.  Close  on  him  comes  General  Sir  Redvers  Ikiller. 
Other  Etonians  on  the  active  list  are  Lieutenant-General 
Sir  Charles  Mansfield  Clai'ke,  Lieutenant-General  Lord 
Methuen,  and  Major-Genei-al  the  Hon.  Neville  G.  Lyt- 
telton, Colonel  Villiers  Hatton  of  the  Grenadier  Guards, 
Sir  Henry  E.  Colvile,  V.C,  Colonel  Francis  W.  Kliodis, 
and  many  others  too  numerous  to  reckon   here.      On  the 


290  ETON    COLLEGE 

retired  list  may  be  noted  the  names  of  Lord  Chelmsford, 
Sir  George  Higginson,  and  many  others,  who  have  done 
their  duty  {rude  donati)  and  earned  their  leisure. 

The  Navy,  owing  to  the  early  age  at  which  cadets 
must  begin  their  education,  is  a  profession  to  which 
Etonians  can  seldom  proceed  ;  but  even  in  this  profes- 
sion Eton  can  claim  Admiral  Sir  George  Tryon, 
Admiral  the  Earl  of  Clanwilliam,  Admiral  Arthur 
Knyvett  Wilson,  and  Captain  Arthur  Moore,  the  pre- 
sent commander  of  the  Britannia.  The  famous  Arctic 
explorer.  Sir  Robert  Le  Mesurier  M'Clure,  who  first  dis- 
covered the  North- West  Passage,  is  also  stated  to  have 
been  at  Eton  and  Sandhurst  before  joining  the  navy. 

Etonian  Literature  is  proud  to  recognise  as  the 
successor  of  Shelley  the  famous  poet  Algernon  C. 
Swinburne.  After  him  come  Robert  Bridges,  Lord 
de  Tabley,  and  Arthur  C.  Benson.  Other  branches  of 
literature  claim  Leslie  Stephen,  both  as  an  author  and 
as  first  editor  of  the  great  Dictionary  of  National  Bio- 
graphy; Arthur  J.  Butler,  the  brothers  Julian  and  Howard 
Sturgis,  Robert  N.  Cust,  the  Orientalist,  the  late  and 
present  Earls  of  Crawford,  and  the  last  EarFs  son,  Lord 
Balcarres,  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  and  Bernard  Holland. 

Journalism  has  known  in  its  ranks  Thomas  Chenery, 
editor  of  the  Times ;  Mowbray  Morris,  also  of  the 
Times;  Herbert  W.  Paul,  of  the  Daily  Nezcs ;  Henry 
J.  Cust,  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette;  Walter  H.  Pollock, 
of  the  Saturday  Review;  and  Francis  C.  Burnand, 
the    genial    editor    of    Punch.      Among    printers    have 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       291 

been  members  of  the  great  firms  of  Spottiswoode  and 
Clowes,  while  publishing  has  lately  exercised  a  great 
fascination  for  Etonians,  the  great  firms  of  IVIurray, 
Longman,  Smith  &  Elder,  and  Macmillan,  with  the 
more  recent  firms  of  Arnold,  Duckworth,  and  others, 
reckoning  Etonians  among  their  principal  partners. 

Art,  for  the  practice  of  which  Eton  affords  but  few 
opportunities,  has  yet  produced  the  Hon.  John  Collier, 
Philip  Norman,  and  Arthur  J.  Ryle  among  painters; 
William  Eden  Nesfield  among  architects ;  and  George 
Warrington  Taylor,  first  manager  of  William  Morris's 
famous  art-furnishing  firm  in  London.  Mention  should 
also  be  made  of  the  American  brothers,  sculptor  and  painter, 
Waldo  and  Julian  Story,  and  of  Lord  Ronald  Sutherland 
Gower  and  Charles  Rennet  Lawes  among  sculptors.  Men- 
tion has  already  been  made  of  the  high  position  attained 
by  Sir  Hubert  Parry  in  the  domain  of  Music.  As  an 
antiquary  no  higher  position  has  ever  been  attained  than 
that  of  Sir  Augustus  Wollaston  Franks,  P\R.S.,  President 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries ;  and  as  a  Librarian  none 
higher  than  Henry  Rradshaw.  Even  the  Stage  counts 
Etonians  among  its  chief  performers,  followers  of  Charles 
Kean,  such  as  Charles  H.  Hawtrey,  Arthur  Rourchier, 
Stewart  Dawson,  and  William  G.  Elliot.  The  founder 
of  the  modern  '  Polytechnic ''  institutions  was  an  Etonian, 
Quintin  Hogg. 

Of  more  miscellaneous  attainments,  the  names  are 
worth  mentioning  of  Sir  John  Dugdale  Astley,  Rart., 
John  Moyer  Heathcote,  the  tennis  champion.  Sir  Francis 


292  ETON    COLLEGE 

Marindin,  Lord  Edward  Pelham-Clintoii,  Arthur  H. 
Smith-Barry,  W.  Wightman  Wood,  Douglas  W.  Fresh- 
field,  Clinton  T.  Dent,  Sir  Alfred  Dent  (of  Borneo), 
William  F.  Donkin,  Sir  George  Chetwynd,  Sir  Henry 
Fletcher,  the  Hon.  Auberon  Herbert,  Chaloner  W. 
Chute,  the  Hon.  Mark  Rolle,  Sir  W.  Brampton  Gurdon, 
Edward  Denison,  James  Round,  the  late  and  present 
Earls  of  Winchilsea,  the  late  and  present  Lords  de 
L'lsle  and  Dudley,  the  late  and  present  Earls  of  Pem- 
broke, Cecil  C.  Cotes,  Eustace  Neville-Rolfe,  the  two 
brothers  Sir  Charles  and  Sir  George  Russell,  H.  E. 
Chetwynd-Stapylton,  compiler  of  the  Eton  lists,  to  which 
this  work  is  so  largely  indebted ;  the  Hon.  Horace 
Plunkett,  M.P.,  Sir  Algernon  West,  F.  C.  Rasch,  M.P., 
H.  Cosmo  Bonsor,  IVI.P.,  Sir  Denis  le  Marchant,  H. 
A.  Butler-Johnstone,  Geoffrey  Drage,  Lord  Wantage, 
Lord  Cottesloe,  the  late  and  present  Earls  of  Darnley, 
the  Earl  of  Ellesmere,  Lord  Walsingham,  the  Earl  of 
Wemyss,  the  Earl  of  Meath,  the  Marquess  of  Waterford, 
Guy  Nickalls,  the  mighty  oarsman,  and  many  others  whose 
names  have  been  brought  before  the  public  in  some  re- 
markable way. 

It  may  seem  an  easy  way  to  prove  the  credit  of  a 
school  by  accumulating  statistics  of  its  success  in  turn- 
ing out  boys  capable  of  obtaining  scholarships  at  the 
moment,  and  of  attaining  to  reasonable  success  in  after 
life.  The  annals  of  any  large  public  school  could 
provide  similar  information.  The  list  given  above  is 
not  so  much  for  the  glorification  of  Eton  as  the  school  to 


ETON    AT   THE    PRESENT    DAY       293 

which  a  majority  of  those  who  excel  in  rank  or  wealth  are 
wont  to  send  their  sons,  as  to  show  on  how  many  divers 
fields  Eton  boys  have  met  with  success  in  after  life.  An 
Etonian  on  reading  the  names  given  above  would  be 
struck  by  the  fact  that  but  a  small  minority  of  the  names 
mentioned  are  those  of  boys  who  were  denoted,  ear- 
marked it  might  be  said,  when  still  boys,  as  likely  to 
succeed  in  after  life.  It  is  the  pride  of  Eton  that  it 
trains  almost  every  boy  to  face  the  duties  in  life  which 
may  confront  him.  As  an  Etonian  Prime  Minister  has 
said,  every  day  at  Eton  is  forming  a  great  man,  and 
furnishing  material  for  the  future  history  of  the  country. 
Eton  may  be  relied  upon  to  produce  its  Cannings,  Cole- 
ridges,  Wellesleys,  Gladstones,  Cecils,  and  Curzons,  its 
Lytteltons  and  Lubbocks,  so  long  as  it  maintains  its 
position  at  the  head  of  English  public  schools.  But  it  is 
not  upon  the  success  of  individuals  that  the  school  relies, 
not  merely  on  scholarships  gained  at  the  universities,  on 
centuries  made  at  Lord's,  not  even  on  a  succession  of 
Etonian  Prime  Ministers  or  Etonian  Viceroys  of  India. 
Eton  relies  upon  its  traditions  of  honour,  its  self- regulated 
independence  of  spirit,  and,  above  all,  its  power  of  inspir- 
ing a  life-long  affection  and  an  unseverable  bond  of  union 
among  its  boys.  Age  does  little  to  weaken  the  love  of 
Eton.  Once  an  Eton  boy,  always  an  Eton  boy,  even, 
like  Horace  Walpole,  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  of  life. 
When  George  Augustus  Selwyn  was  consecrated  to  be 
bishop  of  the  then  almost  unknown  islands  of  Melanesia, 
the  parting  words  to  him  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  Paul's 


294  ETON    COLLEGE 

Cathedral  were,  '  Floreat  Ecclesia,  Floreat  Etona."'  When 
Robert  Elwes  rode  to  certain  death  against  the  Boer 
bullets  at  Laing's  Nek,  his  cry  was  not  '  Victory  or 
Westminster  Abbey!''  his  thoughts  not  of  home  or  family, 
but  his  last  words  were  '  Floreat  Etona."  He  is  not  the 
only  Etonian  who  has  met  death  with  those  words  in  his 
heart,  if  not  upon  his  lips. 

Above  all,  there  is  one  result  of  an  Eton  training 
which  accompanies  a  boy  through  his  career  in  life. 
Like  Chaucer's  Knight,  who 

from  the  tyme  that  he  first  began 
To  ryden  out,  he  lovede  chyvalrye, 
Trouthe  and  honour,  fredom  and  cortesie, 

if  a  boy  prove  a  true  son  of  Eton,  he  will  always  be,  in 
Chaucer''s  words, 

A  verray  perfight  geutil  knight. 

It  is  easy  to  point  out  the  faults  and  weak  places  of 
Eton  as  a  school,  it  is  easy  to  comment  on  the  disad- 
vantages of  the  old  Foundation,  or  on  the  somewhat 
cumbrous  mechanism  of  the  new,  but  it  is  difficult  to 
suggest  new  or  satisfactory  measures  for  improvement. 
It  is  the  boys  who  make  Eton,  not  its  Governing  Body ; 
not  even  its  Head-master  and  his  staff.  Eton  is  a  natural 
and  indigenous  product  of  England,  and  its  existence 
has  for  four  and  a  half  centuries  been  part  and  parcel  of 
England's  progress  and  prosperity. 

At  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  lines  writte  n 


ETON    AT    THE    PRESENT    DAY       295 

by  the  Marquess  Wellesley,  in  1839,  in  anticipation  of 
the  changes  which  were  then  imminent,  still  remain 
apposite : — 

Iiicorrupta,  precor,  maiieas  atque  integra,  iieu  te 

Aura  reji^at  populi,  iieu  novitatis  amor  ; 
Stet  quoque  prisca  Domus;  (neque  euim  maiius  impia  tangat) 

Floreat  in  mediis  intenierata  minis  ; 
Det  Patribus  Patres,  P(>pulo(|ue  det  inclyta  Cives 

Elo(niitim(jue  Foro  .Judiciisque  decus, 
(Joncilioque  animos  magnoeque  det  ordine  (ienti 

Immortalem  alta  cum  pietate  Fidem  ; 
Floreat,  iutacta  per  postera  secula  fama, 

Cura  diu  Patriae,  Cura  paterna  Dei. 


Floiiea'1'  Etoxa — EsTO  Pekpetua. 


INDEX 


Abercromby,  Ralph,  163 

About  Some  Felknvs,  275 

Abraham,  Bishop,  185,  188,  242 
'Absence,'  145 

Act  of  1868  appointing  Commis- 
sioners to  draw  up  statutes  for 
the  leading  public  schools,  212 

Adderley,  J.  G.,  286 

'  Agar's  Plough,'  247,  271-2 

Aitken,  the  brothers,  243 

Akers-Douglas,  A.,  280 

Aldrich,  Robert,  32-3,  53 

All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  3,  7 

Aliestree,  Riciiard,  92-3,  98,  132, 
133 

Alley,  William,  73 

Alnwick,  William  of,  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  6 

Alston,  F.  B.,  284 

Alumni  Etoneiises,  vi. 

American  War  of  Independence, 
114-5,  126 

Amlcabilis  Concordia  between 
the  foundations  of  William  of 
Wykeham  and  Henry  VI.,  13 

Andrews,  Richard,  Warden  of  All 
Souls',  7 

Anson,  General,  166 

Anson,  T.  A.,  242 

Anson,  W.  R.,  287 

Anstey,  Christopher,  110 

Antibossicon,  52,  147 

Anti- Jacobin,  124 


Anton,  Thomas,  77 

Anwykyll,  John,  146 

Apis  Matina,  265 

Appropriation  of  fines,  203 

Archery,  235-6 

Archidiaconal  jurisdiction  of  the 
Provosts,  13,  217 

Architectural  Histori/  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  (Willis 
and  Clark's),  vi.,  vii.,  9 

Argentine,  John,  74 

Arlington,  Earl  of,  97 

Armorial  bearings,  16  17 

Army  class,  196,  226-7 

Arne,  T.  A.,  106 

Arnold,  Dr.,  196-8 

Ascham,  Anthony,  100 

Ascham,  Roger,  53,  69,  159,  234 

Ashley,  Thomas,  74-5 

Ashton,  Thomas,  108 

Assistant  -  masters,  141-2,  177, 
180,  185,  205,  209,210,  220-22, 
227 

Astley,  John,  69 

Astlcy,  John  D.,  291 

Athletic  sports,  252 

Atwater,  William,  72 

Auckland,  Earl  of,  129,  281 

Austen-Leigh,  A.,  vi.,  244,  287 

Austen- Leigh,  E.  C,  244 

Austen-Leigh,  8.,  244 

Ayscough,  William,  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  7,  16 


297 


298 


INDEX 


Ayton,  Sir  Robert,  applies  in 
verse  to  James  I.  for  the 
Provostship,  41 

Bacchus,  verses  composed  by  the 

boys  ill  praise  of,  58-9,  G7-8 
Bacon,  Francis,  42,  277-8 
Baclhani,  C,  165 
Bag-e,  T.  E.,  245 
Bainbridge,  H.  W.,  245 
Baker,  George,  110 
Balcarres,  Lord,  290 
Balfour,  A.  J.,  280 
Balfour,  G.  W.,  280 
Balfour  of  Burleigh,  Lord,  280 
Ball-Hughes,  E.,  165 
Balston,  Edward,  202,  212,  242 
Bangorian  Controversy,  103,  150 
Bankers,  Etonian,  166,  285-6 
Bankes,  J.  E.,  289 
Bankes,  Matthew,  140 
Banks,  Joseph,  117 
Barclay,  G.  H.,  285 
Bard,    Henry    (Viscount     Bella- 

mont),  99-100 
Barker,  Thomas,  23 
Barker,  William,  54-5 
Barnard,  Edward,  115-6,  119,  120, 

127 
Barnard,  John,  242 
Barnby,  Sir  J.,  232 
Barnes,  G.  S.,  289 
Barrington,  Shute,  115 
Barrow,   Isaac  (Bishop  of  Sodor 

and  Man),  91 
Bates,  Joah,  118 
Bathing,  259-60 
Battle,  William,  107 
Bayley,  E.,  243 
Bayley,  L.  H.,  282 
Bayley,  S.  C,  282 
Beagles,  251 
Beales,  Edmond,  162-8 


Beauchainp,  Earl,  283 

Beaufort,  Cardinal,  2,  6,  14 

Beecher,  Sir  William,  41 

Beer,  94-5 

Bekynton,  Thomas  of,  a  Wyke- 
liamist scholar, principal  adviser 
of  Henry  VI.  in  the  foundation 
of  Eton,  4,  7,  10,  13,  46  ;  con- 
secrated at  Eton  Bishop  of  Bath 
and  Wells,  11,  12;  King's 
Commissioner  at  the  installa- 
tion of  Provost  Waynflete,  12, 
49 

Belmore,  Earl  of,  283 

Benson,  A.  C,  vi.,  vii.,  290 

Benson,  Christopher,  155 

Benson,  R.  H.,  252 

Beresford,  Colonel,  162 

Beresford,  Lord  George,  129 

Bertie,  F.  L.,  284 

Bethell,  George,  131 

'Bever,'  182 

Bicycling,  253 

Biddulph,  T.  M.,  166 

Bill,  William,  35-6,  57,  181, 
187 

Billiards,  252 

Bishops,  Etonian,  12,   70-4,   155, 
163,  286 

Blachford,  Lord,  162,  265 

Blackburn,  Lord,  164 

Blackwood,  S.  A.,  284 

Blake- Humf ley,  R.  H.,  256,  258 

Blakeman,  John,  49 

Bland,  Henry,  96,  104,  106 

Bligh,  Ivo,  245,  251 

Bligh,  J.  D.,  156 

Blore,  E.  W.,  243,  288 

Blunt,  W.,  265 

Blyth,  Jeflfery,  73 

Blyth,  John,'  77 

Boarding-houses,  142,  145,  209-11, 
269-70 


INDEX 


299 


Boating,  253-9 ;  the  Thames  at 
first  'out  of  bounds,'  253-4; 
first useof  lonj,'boats,  254 ;  ujiper 
boats  and  lower  boats,  254  ; 
boat  processions  to  Surly  Hall, 
255-6;  'check  nights,'  255-6; 
races  against  Westminster 
School,  256,257,  260;  ]iartially 
recognised  by  Dr.  Hawtrey  and 
Dr.  Goodford,  256;  Henley 
Regatta,  257  ;  Dr.  Warre's  on- 
courauenicnt  of,  258  ;  Eton  the 
chief  nursery  for  rowing  in 
England,  258  ;  Etonian  oars- 
men at  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
258-9  ;  adoption  of  light -blue 
badge,  260 

Bold,  Henry,  97 

Bolingbroke,  Viscount,  102 

Boncle,  John,  90 

Bonfires,  61-2 

Bonsor,  H.  Cosmo,  292 

Bosanquct,  F.  A.,  289 

Bost,  Henry,  23,  25,  29-30,  56, 
188,  231. 

Boteler,  W.  F.,  178 

'Bound.s,'  93-4,  253-4 

Bourchier,  Arthur,  291 

Bourne,  G.  C,  288 

'  Boy  Bishop,'  election  of,  63,  190 

Boyle,  Robert,  82,  91-2,  99 

Bradshaw,  Henry,  288,  291 

Brandreth,  H.  S.,  156 

Braybrooke,  Viscount,  193 

Brett,  R.  B.  (Viscount  Eslier), 
284 

Bridgeman,  W.  C,  288 

Bridges,  Robert,  290 

Brigges,  Sampson,  87 

Brinsley-Richards,  J.,  275 

Brodrick,  George,  287 

Brodrick,  W.  St.  J.,  280 

Broome,  William,  103 


Browne,  E.  Harold,  163 
Browne,  Thomas,  91 
Hrowne,  Tiionias,  148 
Brownlow,  Earl,  280 
Brougham,  Lord,  173,  199 
Brucrne,  Richard,  36,  57 
Bnniinu'll,  George.  130 
Bryan,  John,  76 
Bryan,  Thomas,  150 
P.ryant,  Jacob,  108,  110 
Bucclcuch,  third  Duke  of,  117 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  156 
Buckingham,     George     Villiers, 

Duke  of,  41,  42 
Buckland,  F.  M.,  215 
Buckley,  William,  76 
BuUer,  Redvers,  289 
JUillock-Marsham,  R.,  155 
Bullying,  182,  211 
Burchett,  William,  104 
Burghley,  Lord,  69 
Burgoyne,  J.  F.,  129 
Burnand,  F.  C,  290 
Burne-Jones,  Sir  E.,  268 
Burrows,  Winfrid,  287 
Burton,  William,  77 
Bury  St.  Edmunds  School,  148 
Bushby,  H.  J.,  289 
Bust,  Matthew,  70 
Busts  of  eminent  Etonians,  188 
Bute,  Earl  of,  105 
Butler,  A.  J.,  290 
Butler,  Samuel,  150,  197 
Butler-Johnstone,  H.  A..  292 
Byron,  Lord,  130,  156,  175,  241 

Cadogan,  Earl,  280 
Caillard,  V.,  282 
Caloidiv,  67 
Calf  hill,  James,  75 
Cambridge,  R.  Owen,  110 
Canulcn,  Earl,  108 
Camden,  William,  40 


300 


INDEX 


Camelford,  Lord,  104 
Canning,  Earl,  163,  281 
Canning,  George,   121,  124,   152, 

207,  263,  264,  266,  278,  282 
Card -playing,  128 
Carleton,  Sir  Dudley,  41,  84 
Carleton,  Dudley,  78 
Carlisle,  fifth  Earl  of,  136 
Carlisle,  seventh  Earl  of,  162 
Carnarvon,  Earl  of,  280 
Carriugton,  Earl,  280,  283 
Carter,  Thomas,  131 
Carter,  Thomas,  vii.-viii. 
Carter,  W.  A.,  186,  214,  218 
Cartwright,  T.,  156 
Carving  of  names  on   panels   of 

Upper  and  Lower  School,  188-9 
Casaubou,  Isaac,  80 
Casaubon,  Meric,  80 
Cathcart,  Earl,  283 
Cathcart,  G.,  156 
Cavendish,  Sir  William,  sons  of, 

at  Eton,  68 
Cecil,  E.,  288 
Cecil,  Lord  R.,  289 
Chalfont,  Matthew,  183 
Chantry,  Provost  Lupton's,  32 
Chapel,  15-6,  18,  22-3,  31,  37,  41, 

98-9,  138-41,  186-8,  217,  230-1, 

249-50,  268 
Chapman,  Bishop,  169,  202,  270 
Chapman,  John,  107 
Charles  L,  40,  86,  99 
Charles  II.,  91,  92,  97,  98 
Charter  of  Foundation,  4-5,  45,  46 
Charterhouse  School,  76,  199 
Chartres,  James,  149 
Chatham,  Earl  of,  104-5,  108,  263, 

278 
Chatterton's    '  Rowley  '    poems, 

two  Etonian  champions  of,  109, 

110 
'  Check  nights,'  255-6 


Chedworth,  John,  70,  71 
Chelmsford,  Lord,  290 
Chelmsford. Grammar  School,  148 
Cheltenham  College,  198 
Chenery,  Thomas,  290 
Chermside,  H.,  282 
Chetwynd,  G.,  292 
Chetwynd-Stapylton,    H.  E.,  vi., 

292  ' 
Chichele,  Henry,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury,  2,  3,  20 
Child,  Dr.,  95 
Chinnery,  H.  B.,  245 
Chitty,  J.  W.,  243,  289 
Choristers,  4,  10,  11,  45,  46,  47, 

49,  50,  51,  55,  203 
'  Christopher '    luu,    168,    185-6, 

262,  270 
Chrysostom,  St.  John,  works  of, 

published  at  Eton,  39,  40 
Churchill,  Lord  R.,  280 
Chute,  C.  W.,  292 
Civil  Service  appointments  held 

bv  Etonians,  283-5 
Civil  War,  86-7 
Clanwilliam,  Earl  of,  290 
Clarendon,  Lord  Chancellor,  92 
Clarendon,  Earl  of,  199,  200 
Clark,  J.  W.,  ii..  vii.,  288 
Clarke,  C.  M.,  289 
Class-books,  40,  143,  205 
Classical  and  modern  sides,  207 
Cleasby,  A.,  164 
Clerk,  John,  19 
Clock,  the  great,  134 
Cobham,  Viscount,  244,  285 
Cole,  Henry,  35 
Cole,  William,  the  antiquary,  1 10, 

112-13,  127 
Coleridge,  A.  D.,  183,  198,  275 
Coleridge,  Edward,  169,  180,  187, 

197,  213 
Coleridge,  H.  J.,  197 


INDEX 


301 


Coleridge,  H.  N.,  197,  265 

Coleridge,  Herbert,  197 

Coleridge,  Lord  (Lord  Chief  Jus- 
tice), 164,  198 

Coleridge,  second  Lord,  289 

Coleridge,  Sir  Jolin  Taylor,  155, 
197,  198,  201 

Coles,  V.  S,,  266,  287 

Colet,  Dean,  146,  147 

College  buildings,  original  jjlans 
of  Henry  VII.,  7-9 ;  revised 
plans,  9-10  ;  suspended  during 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  18  ;  com- 
pleted, 22-3 ;  Provost  Lup- 
ton's  additions,  30-2 ;  LTpper 
School  built  by  Provost  Alles- 
trie,  92-3 ;  Upper  School  re- 
built, 95  ;  views  of  the  College 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  132-4;  the  Library, 
135-7;  College  Hall,  137;  new 
wing  in  Weston's  Yard,  184-5  ; 
recent  additions,  267-9 

College  Magazine,  265 

Collegers.     See  Scholars 

Collier,  John,  291 

Collins,  Baldwin,  80 

Collins, Samuel,  Provost  of  King's, 
75 

Collins,  Samuel,  Minister  at  Mos- 
cow, 100 

Collins,  W.  Lucas,  158,  161,  169, 
275 

Colvile,  H.  E.,  289 

Col  vile,  J.  W.,  163 

Colvin,  A.,  282 

Commonexa  [Com  iticnsales),  46,47, 
48-9,  57,  66,  68,  78-9,  83,  86, 
93,  96,  133,  145,  204,  220,  248, 
259 

Compton,  Lord  A.,  286 

Confession  by  the  boys  on  Ash 
Wednesday,  59 


Coningsby,  William,  76 
Consuetudinarinm,   a   daily   rule 

of  life  at  Eton,  drawn   up   in 

1561,  58-67,  93,   144,   189,  190, 

236 
Conway,  Henry  S.,  112 
Cooke,  William,  112-3,  114,  142 
Cojilestone,  John,  100 
Cork,  Earl  of,  280 
Cornwallis,  Edward,  106 
Cornwallis,  Frederick,  106 
Cornwallis,  Marquess,  114-5,  121 

281 
Cotes,  C.  C,  292 
Cottesloe,  first  Lord,  162 
Cottesloe,  second  Lord,  292 
Cotton,  Henry,  289 
Cowell,  John,  77 
Co  well,  Pliilip,  226 
Cowley,  Earl,  163 
Coxe,  llichard,  53,  73 
Coxe,  William,  110 
Cracroft-Amcotts,  V.,  266 
Cradock,  Zachary,  97,  98 
Cranii)ton,  John,  163 
Crawford,  Earls  of,  290 
Creasy,  E.  S.,  vi.,  163 
Cricket,  239,  240-6 
Cricketing  families  at  Eton,  244-5 
Croke,  Ilicliard,  76 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  87-90 
Cromwell,  Ptichard,  90 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  26,  30 
Crowder,  K,  B.,  155 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  181 
Cunliffe,  F.  H.  E.,  245 
Currie,  Lord,  285 
Curzon  of  Kedleston,   Lord,  266, 

280,  282 
Cust,  H.  J.,  290 
Cust,  John,  112 
Cust,  Lionel,  285 
Cust,  R.  N.,  290 


302 


INDEX 


Daily  routine  of  life  at  Eton 
described  in  the  Consuetudi- 
nariurn,  63-7 

Dallas,  G.  E.,  284 

Daman,  Mr.,  271 

'Dames,'  142,  145 

Dampier,  Henry,  126 

Dampier,  Thomas,  115,  116 

Dampier,  Thomas,  tlie  yoimger, 
114,  126 

Dancinj,',  144 

Darnley,  Earl  of,  292 

Davies,  Jonathan,  120,  127,  128, 
131,  157,  160 

Davies,  Scrope  B.,  130 

Davies,  Sneyd,  105 

Dawkins,  E.  J.,  156 

Dawson,  Stewart,  291 

Day  of  my  Life  at  Eton,  A,  275-6 

Day,  John,  77 

Day,  Richard,  77 

Day,  William,  37,  38 

Debating  Societies,  262-4 

'  Dedication  Day,'  8-9 

De  L'Isle  and  Dudley,  Lords, 
292 

Denison,  Edward,  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, 164 

Denison,  Edward,  292 

Denison,  G.  A.,  164 

Denison,  W.  T.,  164,  283 

Denman,  Lord,  129 

Dent,  A.,  292 

Dent,  Clinton  T.,  292 

Denton,  James,  74 

Derby,  thirteentli  Earl  of,  123 

Derby,  fourteenth  Earl  of,  162, 
207,  262.  263,  280 

Derby,  sixteenth  Earl  of,  280,  283 

Dethick,  Gilbert,  68 

Dethick,  Nicholas,  68 

Devon,  Earl  of,  199 

Dickinson,  W.  IL  288, 


Diplomatists,  Etonian,  285, 
Disbrowe,  E.  C,  156 
Discipline,    141-2,    144-5,    160-1, 

168,  169,  172,  228 
Dogget,  John,  74 
'  Dominies,'  142,  145 
Donaldson,  H.  F.,  284 
Donaldson,  S.  A.,  258 
Donaldson,  St.  C,  286 
Donki.i,  W.  F.,  292 
'Double      Gloucester'     (Provost 

Roberts),  127 
Doyle,  F.  H.,  165,  262,  265 
Drage,  Geoffrey,  292 
Drainage,  185 
Drake,  Ingalton,  vii. 
Draper,  William,  112 
Dress  of  Eton  boys,  273-5 
Drowning  accidents,  259 
Drurv,  B.  H.,  151,  168,  169 
Drury,  H.  J.  T.,  131,  151 
Drury,  Joseph,  151 
'Dry  bobs,'  242 
Dutierin,  Marquess  of,  282,  283, 

285 
Dnnciad,  The,  101 
Dunstable,  John  of,  55 
Dupuis,  G.  J.,  169 
Dupuis,  G.  R.,  243,  244 
Durham,  Earl  of,  155 
Durham  School,  148 
Durnford,  F.  E.  218 
Durnford,  Richard,  163 
Durnford,  Richard,  285 
'  Dutchman's  Farm,'  247,  271-2 
Dysart,  Earl  of,  40 

Earle,  Alfred,  286 
Easter  ordinances,  60 
Edinburc/h  Review  on  Eton,  199, 

200 
Educational  reform,  196-8 
Edward  IV.,  18-21,  71 


INDEX 


303 


Edward  VI.,  27-8,  33,  34,  36,  39, 

53,  54,  55,  136,  147,  149 
Egerton,  Edwin,  285 
Eldon,  Lord,  173 
Election  of  Provosts,  tlie  ri<i;}it  of, 

disputed   between    tlie   Crown 

and  the  Fellows,  29,  33,  35,  36, 

37,  41,  57,  98,   175,  195,  201-2, 

217 
Election    of    scholars    into    the 

College,  62,  83,  183-4 
Election  of  scholars  into  King's, 

62,  70,  86,  88,  184 
'  Election  Hall,'  31,  135 
'Election    Saturday,'    255,    256, 

257 
'  Election  Week,'  62,  93 
Elgin,  eighth  Earl  of,  163 
Elgin,  ninth  Earl  of,  282 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  29,  35,  87,  38, 

39,  53,  57,  69,  79,  148,  235,  237, 

250 
Elizabeth  Wid  vile,  wife  of  Ed  ward 

IV.,  22,  71 
Elleuborough,  Earl  of,  155,  281 
EUesniere,  Earl  of,  292 
Ellice,  Edward,  162 
Elliot,  Henry  G.,  163,  285 
Elliot,  W.  G.  291 
Elli.soii,  J.  H.  J.,  286 
Ellison-Macartney,  W.  G.,  280 
Elphinstone,  Lord,  163 
Elwes,  Robert,  294 
Empire,   Eton's   services  to  the, 

281-3 
Encroachments    upon    Eton    by 

land  and  water,  271-2 
Endowments,  6,  13-14,  25,  225 
English    literature  and   history, 

180 
Epitaphs,  122,  123 
Erasmus,  32,  84,  53,  74,  75 
Erlysman,  Tliomas,  53 


Essex,  third  Earl  of,  87 

Eton  College,  foundation  planned 
by  Henry  VI.,  3;  letters  patent 
for  the  constitution  of,  4  ;  Char- 
ter of  Foundation,  4-5,  45,  46  ; 
endowment,  6;  foundation  cere- 
mony, 6-7;  the  King's  firstbuild- 
ing  plans,  7-8  ;  revised  plans, 
8-10 ;  the  building  accounts, 
8-9  ;  numbers  on  the  foun<la- 
tion  fixed,  10,  11;  connected 
with  King'sCollege,  Cambridge, 
11,  48  ;  provisions  for  endow- 
ment and  welfare,  13-14;  grant 
of  arms,  17  ;  history  during  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  18-21;  rela- 
tions with  Edward  IV.,  19, 21-2; 
obligations  to  Jane  Shore, 
21-3 ;  completion  of  school 
buildings,  22  -  3  ;  prosperity 
under  Henry  VII.,  25  ;  in  dan- 
ger of  dissolution  under  Henry 
VIII.  and  Edward  VI.,  26-8; 
reformed  by  Edward  VI.,  28  ; 
intiuence  of  the  Provosts  at 
Court,  29 ;  Provost  Lupton's 
additions  to  the  College  build- 
ings, 30-2  ;  reforms  under  Pro- 
vosts Smith  and  Day,  34,  37  ; 
the  I'rovostship  of  Sir  llcnry 
Savile,  39-40,  80 ;  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton,  42-4,  81-4;  original 
scheme  for  foundation,  45-6,  as 
remodelled  by  the  founder,  46- 
51;  head-masters  from  William 
Westbury  to  William  Malim, 
51-5 ;  Co)isucti(dinariam(\i)G\ ) 
describing  daily  routine  of  life, 
58-67;  visit  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
69;  head-masters  from  AVilliam 
Malim  to  Thomas  Rust,  69-70 ; 
eminent  scholars  to  the  close 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  7ii-S0; 


304 


INDEX 


disi^ute  Avith  the  Fellows  of 
King's,  decided  by  Archbishop 
Laud,  83-4,  96-7  ;  history  dur- 
ing the  Civil  Wars,  86-90; 
Provosts  from  Francis  Rous 
to  Henry  Godolphin,  87-99; 
eminent  scholars  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  99-103,  and 
during  the  head  -  masterships 
of  Henry  Bland  and  William 
George,  104-12  ;  the  head-mas- 
tership and  provostship  of  Dr. 
Barnard,  115-19  ;  rebellion  un- 
der Dr.  Foster,  120  ;  decline  in 
numbers  under  Dr.  Foster,  and 
Dr.  Davies,  121 ;  eminent  pupils 
of  Dr.  Davies,  121-6,  and  Dr. 
Heath,  128-31  ;  position  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
131 ;  the  College  buildings  from 
1670  to  1769,  132-41  ;  changes 
in  discipline,  141-5 ;  rival 
schools,  145-51  ;  relations  with 
George  III.,  151-2  ;  conserva- 
tive rule  of  Dr.  Goodall,  153-4: 
his  distinguished  pupils,  155-6; 
Dr.  Keate's  head-mastership 
and  pupils,  157-69 ;  reforms 
carried  out  by  Dr.  Hodgson  and 
Dr.  Hawtrey.  171-193,  and  by 
Dr.  Goodford,  195-6 ;  Royal 
Commission  on  Public  Schools, 
199-212  ;  appointment  of  'Gov- 
erning Body,'  214-15  ;  aboli- 
tion of  the  old  Foundation,  215  ; 
the  new  statutes,  216-25  ;  head- 
masterships  of  Dr.  Hornl)y  and 
Dr.  Warre,  225-8;  increase  in 
number  of  boys,  228-9  ;  sports 
and  games,  233-61 ;  debating 
societies  and  magazines,  262-6 ; 
influence  of  the  school  life, 
275-80,    292-4;    distinguisheii 


Et(mians  of  recent  years,  280- 

292 
Eton  Boating  Book,  258 
Eton  Chronicle,  266 
Eton  Greek  Grammar,  40 
Eton  in  the  Forties,  182-3 
Eton  Latin  Grammar,  147-8,  205 
Eton  Miscellany,  265 
Eton  Mission,  286 
Eton  School  Lists,  vi.,  292 
Eton  Society,  262-3 
Etonian,  The,  265,  266 
Etoniana,  vii.,  158,  161,  1G9 
Evans,  William,  193 
Evelyn,  John,  159 
Ewer,  John,  107 

Expense  of  education  at  Eton,  229 
Eyre,  James,  87 

Fagging,  182,  211 

Fairs,  annual,  14 

Falkland,  Lord,  85 

Family  connections  between  mem- 
bers of  the  Foundation,  113-14 

Fazakerley,  J.  N.,  155 

Feast  Days,  13-14,  59-63 

Fellowes,  Harvey,  243 

Fellows,  4,  5,  29,  30,  33,  36-7, 
41,  46,  47,  48,  50,  83,  88,  96-7, 
203,  204,  218,  219-20 

Fencing,  144 

Ferrers,  N.  M.,  179,  287 

Fielding,  Henry,  105 

Fishing,  252 

Fitzmaurice,  Lord  E„  280 

Fitzwilliam,  second  Earl,  117 

Fives,  249-50 

Fleetwood,  William.  101 

Fletcher,  Giles,  78 

Fletcher,  H.,  292 

Fletcher,  Phineas,  78 

Flogging,  69,  95,  144,  158-61 

'  Floreat  Etona,'  294 


INDEX 


305 


Fcotball,  59,  61,  239,  240,  247-9, 

260 
Forbes,  W.  F. ,  245 
Forbes,  W.  H.,  287 
Ford,  F.  Clare,  285 
Forms,    G6-7,   95,    96,    177,   205, 

209 
Forsett,  John,  78 
Foster,  John  (Head-master),  119- 

20,  160,  170 
Foster,  John,  232 
Fourth  of  June,  152,  255, 256,  257, 

269 
Fox,  C.  J.,  116,  123,  136,  263 
Foxe,  Edward,  74 
Franklyn,  Thomas,  74 
Franks^  A.  W.,  285,  291 
Freeman,  Sir  Ralph,  41 
Fremantle,  C.  285 
Fremantle,  W.  H.,  287 
French    Ambassador    lodged    at 

Eton,  38,  236-7 
Frere,   J.   Hookham,   123-4,    125, 

264 
Frere,  William,  129 
Frescoes,  36,  187 
Freshfield,  D.  W..  292 
Fryer,  John,  75 
Fuller,  John,  75 
Fuller,  Thomas,  on  Eton,  53 
Furse,  C.  W.,  286 

Gambier,  E.  J.,  155 

Games  and  Sports,  233-61 

George  II.,  114 

George  III.,  48,  118,  127,  151-2 

George,  AVilliani,  96,  106,  112, 141, 

151 
Gheast,  Edmund,  73 
Gilbert,  Humphrey,  79 
Gladstone,  Herbert  J.,  280 
Gladstone,  Robertson,  166 
Gladstone,  Thomas,  166 


Gladstone.  W.  E.,  162,  164,  172, 
200,  201,  207,  262,  263.  265,  266, 
278,  280,  282 

Glastonbury,  Lord,  116 

Gloucester,  Humphrey,  Duke 
of,  2 

Glover,  Robert.  75 

Glynn,  Robert,  110 

Glynne,  Stephen,  166 

Goad,  George,  88 

Goad,  Roger,  74 

Goad,  Thoma.s,  77 

Godolphiu.  Earl  of,  98 

Godolphin,  Henry,  97,  98,  134, 
139,  204 

Golf,  251 

Goodall,  Joseph,  153-4,  156,  157, 
158,  167,  173-4,  176,  188,  196, 
552 

Goode,  Barnham,  101,  107 

Goode,  Francis,  101 

Goodford,  Charles  Old,  195-6, 
202,  214,  226,  256 

Goodhart,  H.  C,  288 

Gordon,  Thomas,  156 

Gorst,  J.  L.,  282 

Gosselin,  M.,  285 

Gouge,  Thomas,  76 

Gouge,  William,  76 

Goulburn,  Dean,  265 

Goulding,  William,  148 

'Governing  Body,'  appointment 
of,  214  ;  original  members  of, 
214-5  ;  new  statutes  drawn  up 
by  abolishing  the  old  Foun- 
dation, 215,  216-24  ;  consti- 
tution of,  224.  See  also  225, 
272 

Gower,  Lord  Ronald  S.,  291 

Grammar  Schools,  148 

Granby,  Marquess  of,  112 

Grant,  J.  P.,  163 

Granville,  Earl,  162 


306 


INDEX 


Gray,  Nicholas,  84,  88,  91 
Gray,    Thomas,    108,    109,     118, 

238-9,  240 
Greek  pronnnciation,  34 
Greek,  teaching  of,  143-4,  207 
Green,  G.  R.,  169 
Greenhall,  John,  79 
Greue,  William,  68 
Grenville,  Denys,  97 
Granville,  George,  105,  108     , 
Grenville,  Lord,  116 
Grey,  Charles,  155 
Grey,  second  Earl,  121,  123,  171, 

172 
Grey  Friars'  School,  148 
Grinithorpe,  Lord,  165 
Gronow,   Captain,   165 ;    his  Re- 

'ininiscences,  167-9 
Guildford  Grammar  School,  74, 

148 
Gurdon,  W.  B.,  292 

Hacombleyn,  Robert,  56,  74 

Haddon,  Walter,  69,  75 

Hales,  John,  'the  ever  memor- 
able,' 84-6,  88 

Halifax,  Marquess  of,  112 

Halifax,  first  Viscount,  162 

Halifax,  second  Viscount,  287 

Hall,  Edward,  the  Chronicler, 
46,  76 

Hallam,  A.  H.,  165,  265 

Hallam,  Henry,  125 

Hallam,  John,  125 

Hambledon  Club,  240 

Hamilton,  E.  W.,  284 

Hamilton,  W.  K.,  163 

Hammond,  Henry,  99 

Hammond,  John,  70 

Hampden,  Viscount,  162,  280 

Hardinge,  Arthur,  282,  285 

Hardinge,  George,  117 

Hardinge,  G.  N.,  117-18 


Hardinge,  Nicholas,  103,  117 

Hai'e,  Francis,  101 

Hare,  James,  116 

Harmer,  J.  R.,  286 

Harrington,  John,  79 

Harris,  Edward,  163 

Harris,  George,  113 

Harris,  H.  P.,  288 

Harris,  third  Lord,  163 

Harris,  fourth  Lord,  245 

Harrison,  John,  82 

Harrow  School,  103,  149,  150, 
151,  199,  235-6,  248,  251,  271, 
274 ;  cricket  matches  against, 
241-5 

Hartwell,  Abraham,  78 

Harvey,  W.  W.,  164 

Hatcher,  John,  77 

Hatcher,  Thomas,  77 

Hatcliffe,  William,  70,  71 

Hatton,  Mrs.,  262 

Hatton,  Richard,  74 

Hatton,  Villiers,  289 

Hawke,  Lord,  245 

Hawkins,  Nicholas,  73 

Hawtrey,  Charles,  113 

Hawtrey,  C.  H.,  291 

Hawtrey,  Edward,  100 

Hawtrey,  Edward  Craven,  131, 
154,  169,  170,  171,  173,  176-80 ; 
192,  194-6,  201,  220,  256,  259, 
267 

Hawtrey,  E.  M.,  252 

Hawtrey,  John  (Fellow),  133 

Hawtrey,  John  (Master  of  Pre- 
paratory School),  208 

Hawtrey,  Stephen,  178 
Hayes,  E.  H.,  287 
Hayne,  L.  G,  232,  268 
Hayter,  A.  D.,  280 
Headlam,  S.,  286 
Head-master,  ofhce  of,  51,  220, 
221 


INDEX 


307 


Head-masters — 
Aldrich,  Robert,  32-3,  53 
Balston,  Edward,  202,  212,  242 
Barker,  William,  54-5 
Barnard,  Edward,  115-16,  119, 

120,  127 
Bland,  Henry,  96,  104,  106 
Boncle,  John,  90 
Bust,  Matthew,  70 
Cooke,  William,  112-13, 114,142 
Coxe,  Richard,  53,  73 
Davies,  Jonathan,  120,  127, 128, 

131,  157,  160 
Erlysman,  Thomas,  53 
Foster,  John,  119-20,  160,  170 
George,  William,  96,  106,  112, 

141,  151 
Goad,  George,  88 
Goodall,  Joseph,  153-4,   156-8 

167,  173-4,  176,  188,  196,  255 
Goodford,  Charles  Okl,   195-6, 

202,  214,  226,  256 
Goulding,  William,  148 
Gray,  Nicholas,  84,  88,  91 
Hammond,  John,  70 
Harrison,  John,  82 
Hawtrey,  Edward  Craven,  131, 

154,  169,  170, 171, 173, 176-80, 

192,  194-6,  201,  220,  256,  259, 

267 
Heath,  George,  128-9,  131,  153 
Horman,  William,  52,  147 
Hornby,     James     John,    213, 

225-8,  243 
Home,  Thomas,  88 
Keate,  John,  131,  157-8,   160, 

167-70, 173,  174,  176,  177, 180, 

201,  220,  255,  256 
Langloy,  Richard,  70 
Malim,  William,  55,  58,  59,  69, 

141,  144,  159 
Mountague,  Thomas,  91,  94-5 
Newboroiigh,  John,i95,  102,  113 


Head-masters — routinned — 
Norris,  William,  82 
Peyntour,  John,  52 
Powell,  Edward,  27,  52 
Ridley,  Thomas,  70 
Roderick,  Charles,  95 
Rosewell,  John,  95,  159-60 
Sherwood,  Reuben,  70 
Singleton,  Thomas,  91 
Smyth,  Clement,  20,  51-2 
Snape,  Andrew,  95-6,  101,  103, 

107,  141,  150-1 
Sumner,  John,  107,  113-15 
Udall,  Nicholas,  53-4,  63,  69,  78, 

137,  148,  159 

Warre,  Edmoiid,  213,  226-7,261 

Waynilete,  William  of,  10-12, 

14,  15,  22,  24,  46,  48,49,  58,  70 

Westbury,  William,  19-21.  23, 

49,  52 
Wright,  Ricliard,  70 

Head-masters,  Etonian,  of  other 
schools,  103,  146-51,  288 

Heath,  Benjamin,  151 

Heath,  George,  128-9,  131,  153 

Heathcote,  J.  M.,  291 

Heaver,  Dr.,  97 

Helps,  A.,  165 

Heneage,  E.,  280 

Henley  Regatta,  257 

Honniker,  B.  P.,  284] 

Henry  VI.,  Founder  of  Eton 
College  and  of  King's  College, 
Cambridge,  1  et  seq. ;  early  life 
and  character,  2-3 ;  plans  Foun- 
dation of  Eton  on  the  model  of 
Winchester,  3 ;  visits  Winches- 
ter, 3,  10 ;  grants  Charter  of 
Foundation,  4  ;  plans  buildings 
and  lays  lirst  stone  of  collegiate 
clmrch,  6,  7  ;  his  •  Will '  or  '  In- 
tention '  with  regard  to  build- 
ings, 7-9  ;  appoints  William  of 


308 


INDEX 


Waynflete  to  be  first  Head- 
master and,  subsequently,  Pro- 
vost of  Eton,  10 ;  connects  Eton 
with  King's,  11,  48;  further 
provisions  for  the  welfare  of 
the  College,  13-14  ;  new  build- 
ing plans,  15-16 ;  grant  of  arms, 
17  ;  outbreak  of  "Wars  of  the 
Eoses,  18  ;  dethroned,  19  ;  res- 
toration, second  dethronement, 
and  death,  21  ;  his  original  and 
remodelled  Foundations  de- 
scribed, 45-51  ;  his  habit  of 
meeting  Eton  boys  at  Windsor, 
49, 57  ;  his  commemoration  day, 
61.  ^ee70,  127,  181,  185,  203-4, 
215,  216,  218,  219,  223,  231,  235 

Henry  VII.,  23-i,  25 

Henry  VIII.,  26,  27,  30,  148,  235 

Herbert,  Auberon,  292 

Herbert,  Michael,  285 

Herbert,  R.  G.  W.,  284 

Herbert,  William,  174 

Herschel,  John,  156 

Hervey,  Lord  F.,  285 

Hexter,  Major,  178 

Heytesbury,  Lord,  129 

Hicks-Beach,  M.,  280 

Higgins,  M.  J.,  165,  198,  199,  201 

Higginson,  George,  290 

Higham  Ferrers,  3,  20 

Highway  robbery  by  an  Eton 
scholar,  79 

'  Hills  '  at  Winchester,  190 

Hoadly,  Bishop,  103,  150 

Hobhouse,  Edward,  286 

Hockey,  251 

Hodgkyns,  John,  74 

Hodgson,  Arthur,  166 

Hodgson,  Francis,  130, 175-6,  180, 
184,  188,  189,  192,  194 

Hogg,  Quintin,  291 

Holidays,  58-62,  93,  142-3,  236 


Holhmd,  Bernard,  290 

Holland,  Lord,  105 

Holland,  third  Lord,  123 

Holland  House,  123 

Holte,  John,  146 

Holy  Week  ordinances,  59, 

Hope,  E.  S.,  284 

Hope,  H.  J.,  289 

Hope-Scott,  J.  K.,  164 

Hopetoun,  Earl  of,  283 

Horce  Otiosce,  265 

Horman,  William,  52,  147 

Hornby,  James  John,  213,  225-8, 

243 
Home,  Bishop,  of  AVinchester,  36 
Home,  Tliomas,  88 
Home,  William,  150 
Horner,  J.  F.,  285 
Horne-Tooke,  John,  115 
Hospital    of    St.    James'-in-the- 

Fields,   W^estminster,   granted 

to  the  College,  14;  suiTendered 

to  Henry  VIII.,  26 
Howard,  Charles,  87 
Howard,  H.  G.,  163 
Howard  de  Walden,  Lord,  163 
Howe,  Earl,  112 
Howe,  Viscount,  112 
Hughes,  W.  E.,  viii. 
Hnllier,  John,  75 
Hmidreth  Pointes  of  Hushandrie, 

78 
Hunt,  G.  W.,  280 
Hurst,  G.  J.  H.,  226 

IDDESLEIGH,  Earl  of,  162,  199, 
200 

Ilchester,  Earl  of,  117 

Indulgences  granted  to  penitents 
visiting  the  collegiate  church  of 
Eton,  13 

Influence  of  Eton  on  boys'  char- 
acters, 275-80,  292-4 


INDEX 


309 


Ingelo,  Nathaniel,  90 
Ingles,  Henry,  150 
Ipswich  School,  148 

Jackson,  M.,  282 

James  I.,  39,  40,  41 

James,  Thomas,  Head-master  of 
Rugbv,  149-50,  196 

Jelf,  K.  W.,  163 

Jelf,  W.  E.,  163 

Jenner,  Herbert,  242 

Jersey,  Earl  of,  283 

Jesse,  J.  H.,  vi.,  165 

Johnson,  Dr.,  and  Provost  Bar- 
nard, 118-19 

Johnson,  Thomas,  101 

Johnson,  William,  276 

Jones,  George  Lewis,  111 

'  Jordelay's  Place,'  9 

Jugge,  Richard,  77 

Juxon,  Richard,  79-80 

Kaye,  J.  W.,  163 

Keau,  Charles,  166-7 

Kean,  Edmund,  166 

Keate,    Jonu,    131,    157-8,    160, 

167-70,  173,  174,  176,  177,  180, 

201,  220,  255,  256 
Keble,  John,  198 
Kekewich,  A.,  289 
Kekewich,  G.  W.,  284 
Kennedy,  B.  H.,  197 
Kennedy,  W.  R,  289 
Kennion,  G.  W.,  286 
Kette,  John,  5,  46 
Keys,  Roger,  16 
Kilniorey,  Earl  of,  156 
Kimberley,  Earl  of,  280 
King,  Jetiery,  75 
King,  Oliver,  72 
King's  College,  Cambridge,  vi.,  3, 

4,  11,  13,  17,  47,  48,  50,,  62,  83, 

96-7,  139,  148,  150,  186,  224,  225 


'  Kinges  Werde,'  235 
Kinglake,  A.  W.,  161,  165 
Kingston,  Duke  of,  106 
Kinnaird,  Lord,  287 
Kintore,  Earl  of,  283 
Kirby,  T.  F.,  288 
Kirwan,  J.  H.,  242 
Knapp,  H.  H.,  168,  169 
Knight,  Charles,  191 
Knight,  H.  G.,  155.  264 
Kynaston,  Roger,  242 
Kyte,  John,  74 

Lac  Pueroru))!,  147 
Lamb,  George,  155 
Lamington,  Lord,  283 
Lane,  Thomas,  73 
Langford,  William,  128,  157 
Langley,  Richard,  70 
Langton,  John,  3 
Lansdowne,    Marquess    of,    280, 

282,  283 
Latham,  R.  (J.,  166 
Latin  gramnuirs,  146-8 
Latin,  teaching  of,  56,  67,  143-4, 

205-6 
Latin  verses,  56-9,  62,  67-9,  142, 

143,  206-7 
Laud,  Archbishop,  84,  89,  96-7 
Lawes,  C.  B.,  291 
Lawes,  J.  B.,  166 
Lawley,  Arthur,  283 
Lawn-tennis,  251 
Lawrence,  G.  P.  C,  289 
Legge,  Augustus,  286 
Leinster,  Duke  of,  156 
Le  Marchaiit,  Denis,  156 
Le  Marchant,  Denis,  292 
Lewis,  G.  Cornewall,  162 
'  Liberty,'  177 
Library,  Boys',  266-8 
Library,  College,  135-7,  267-8 
Liddell,  A.  G.  C,  285 


310 


INDEX 


Light- blue  colours  adopted,  260 

Lightfoot,  Bishop,  214,  215 

Lily,  William,  146,  147,  148 

Lisgar,  Lord,  162,  283 

Lisle,  William,  78 

'Literati,' 262 

Littleton,  Edward,  103 

Livesay,  R.,  193 

Lloyd,  Chai-les,  155 

Lloyd,  C.  H.,  232 

Locker,  E.  H.,  129 

'  Lock-up,'  145 

Lockyer,  Nicholas,  90 

Lofft,  Capel,  father  and  son, 
165 

Loggan,  David,  his  view  of  the 
College  buildings,  132-5 

Londonderry,  Marquess  of,  280 

Long,  John,  73 

'  Long  Chamber,'  12,  23,  31,  63, 
92-3,  135,  138,  181,  185 

'Long  Walk,'  133 

Longland,  John,  Bishop  of  Lin- 
coln, 33 

Lonsdale,  John,  155,  175 

Lome,  Marquess  of,  283 

Lothian,  Marquess  of,  280 

LoAver  Master,  51,  141,  221,  226 

Lower  School,  177,  205,  226 

Lubbock,  Alfred,  244,  275 

Lubbock,  John,  290 

Lupton,  Roger,  25-7,  30-2,  59, 
135 

'Lupton's  Tower,'  31,  134,  135 

Lushington,  Stephen,  129 

Luxmoore,  H.  E.,  213,  268 

Luxmoore,  John,  126 

Lyall,  A.  C,  282 

Lyall,  James,  282 

Lyndewode,  William,  7 

Lyon,  John,  149,  235 

Lyttelton,  Alfred,  244,  251,  289 

Lytteltou,  A.  T.,  286 


Lyttelton,    Charles,     Bishop    of 

Carlisle,  105 
Lyttelton,  Charles  G.,  256.     See 

also  Cobham,  Viscount 
Lyttelton,  Edward,  244,  288 
Lyttelton,  first  Lord,  105 
Lyttelton,  fourth  Lord,  166,  184, 

199,  200,  215,  244,265 
Lyttelton,  N.  G.,  289 

Macaulay,  R.  H.,  252 
Mackarness,  J.  F.,  163,  286 
Maclean,  C.  D.,  232 
M'Clure,  R.  Le  M.,  290 
Magazines,  School,  264-6 
Maister,  Richard,  75 
Maitland,  F.  W.,  288 
Malet,  Edward  B.,  285 
Malim,  William,  55,  58,   59,  69, 

141,  144,  159 
Malmesbury,  Earl  of,  162 
Mansfield,  James,  115 
Mansfield,  J.  S.,  165 
Maroon,  Walter,  243 
Margaret  of  Anjou,  18 
Marindin,  Francis,  291 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  156 
Marlborough  College,  198 
Marsden,  R.  G.,  258 
Marshall,  John,  71 
Martindale,  Richard,  148 
Martyrs,  Etonian,  75 
Marvell,  Andrew,  88-9 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  28-9, 

34,  35,  55 
Mathematics,  144,  156,  178-9,  213, 

226 
jNIathias,  T.  J.,  118,  128 
Matthews,  C.  S.,  130 
Matthews,  Heniy,  130 
MaxAvell-Lyte,  Sir  H.  C,  author 

of  a  History  of  Etori  College, 

v.-vi.,  vii.,  158,  239,  285 


INDEX 


311 


May  Day  customs,  60-1 
Meals,  66,  182 
Meath,  Earl  of,  292 
Melbourne,   Viscount,  129,    174, 

175 
Mellish,  G.,  164 
Mercers'  School,  148 
Merchant  Taylors'   School,    148, 

149,  199 
Meredith,  John,  91,  93 
Merton  College,  Oxford,  71,  84, 

132 
Metcalfe,  Lord,  129 
Metcalfe,  Thomas,  155 
Methueu,  Lord,  289 
Michel,  J.,  166 
Microcosm,  The,  124,  264 
Midsummer's  Day  customs,  61-2 
Miers,  H.  A.,  288 
Milles,  Jeremiah,  110 
Milnian,  H.  H.,  155 
Milton,  John,  82 
Miniature,  The,  264 
Minto,  Earl  of,  283 
Miscellany,  The,  265 
Missionary  work  in  London,  231 
MitcheU,  'll.    A.    H.,   213,    243, 

244 
Mitford,  A.  B.,  284 
Modern   languages,  179,  213-14, 

226 
Monck,  Nicholas,  90-1 
Monk  Bretton,  Lonl,  280 
Monkswell,  Lord,  280 
Monson,  Edward  J.,  285 
Montagu,  Charles,  108 
Montagu,  George,  108 
'Montem,'  58,  189-93,  236 
Montgomery,  H.  C,  163 
Moore,  Artliur,  290 
More,  Henry,  99 
Morell,  Thomas,  107 
Morgan,  T.  C,  130 


Morison,  Thomas,  77 
Morley,  Earl  of,  215,  280 
Morris,  Mowbray,  290 
Morris,  William,  268,  291 
Morton,  Albertus,  41,  77-8 
Morysine,  Richard,  76 
Moultrie,  Jolin,  165,  265,  266 
Mountague,  Richard,  74 
Mountague,  Thomas,  91,  94-5 
Moimteney,  Richard,  107 
Mount-Temple,  Lord,  162 
Mowtlowe,  Thomas,  78 
Mulcaster,  Richard,  148 
Mundy,  George,  129 
Murray,  Charles,  163 
Murray,  John,  264 
Murray,  Thomas,  40,  41 
Musce  Etonenses,  67 
Music,  55-6,  107-8,  203-4,  231-2 
Music,   volume  of    MS.,   in   the 

College  Library,  56 
Myers,  Major,  2(57 

Nation,  W.  H.  C,  266 

Naunton,  Sir  Robert,  41 

Navy  Class,  227 

Nesfield,  W.  E.,  291 

Neville,  Latimer,  288 

Neville-Rolfe,  E.,  292 

New  College.  Oxford,  3,  13,  47 

'  New  Schools,'  207-8,  268 

New  wing,  185 

New  Year's  Day  customs,  58 

Newborougli,  John,  95,  102,  113 

Newcastle,   Dukes  of,   162,    179, 

193 
Newcastle  Scholarship,  179 
Newstead  Abbey,  a  frolic  at,  130 
Nickalls,  Guy,  292 
Norman,  C.  L.  243 
Norman,  G.  W.,  155 
Norman,  Pliilip,  vii.,  291 
Norris,  William,  82 


312 


INDEX 


North,  Lord,  114 
Northumberland,  Dukes  of,  115, 

156 
Nuga  Etonenses,  239 
Nugent-Bankes,  G.,  275 
Numbers  at  the  school,  121,  220, 

228-9 
Nutting,  62 

Observer,  The,  266 

'  Ode  on  a  Distant  Prospect  of 

Eton  College,'  109 
'  Ode  on  /Ethelstan's  Victory,'  124 
Okes,  Ptichard,  169,  192,  195,  214 
'  Old  Colleger,'  Reminiscences  of, 

183 
Onslow,  Earl  of,  283 
Oppidan  dinner,  256 
Oppidans.     See  Commoners 
Organ  screen,  187.  268 
Osbaldeston,  George,  156,  242 
Osborne,  Jolin,  77 
Ossington,  Viscount,  162,  164 
Ottaway,  C.  J.,  245 
Oughtred,  William,  77 
Owen,  Roderick,  283 
Oxenbridge,  John,  89,  90 

Pace,  John,  76 

Page,  Thomas,  100 

Pallady,  Richard,  76 

Palmer,  Michael,  79 

Paper  chases,  252 

'Parent,  A,'  Pamphlet  by,  on  the 

Management  of  the  School,  173 
Parents,  duties  of,  230 
Parish,  Woodbine,  163 
Parker,  Matthew,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury,  36,  57,  58 
Parliamentary  Whips,  281 
Parnell,  J.  H.,  242 
Parr,  Samuel,  151 
Parry,  C.  H.  H.,  232,  291 


Parry,  T.  G.,  166 

Paston,  William,  56,  66 

'  Paterfamilias  '  (M.  J.  Higgins), 
series  of  articles  by,  in  the  Corn- 
hill  Magazine,  198 

Patteson,  John,  155 

Patteson,  J.  C,  243,  286 

Paul,  H.  W.,  290 

Pearson,  John,  86,  99 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  172,  173 

Peel,  Viscount,  162,  281 

Pelham,  A.  L.  252 

Pelham,  T.  H.  W.,  284 

Pelham-Clinton,  Lord  E.,  292 

Pembroke,  Earls  of,  292 

Pepys,  Samuel,  68,  94-5,  189,  237 

Percy,  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 
155 

Peyntour,  John,  52 

Philipson,  H.,  245 

PhilUps,  W.  P.,  252 

Phcenix,  The,  266 

Physical  Science,  179,  226 

Pickering,  E.  H.,  180,  213,  241 

Pickering,  William,  242 

Plague,  69 

Planta,  Joseph,  131 

'  Playing  Fields,'  235-7,  242,  246 

Plumptre,  J.  F.,  131 

Plunkett,  Horace,  292 

Pochin,  Ashley,  266 

Polehampton,  H.  S.,  163 

Pollock,  Frederick,  288 

Pollock,  W.  H.,  290 

'  Pop,'  262-3,  267 

Pope  Eugenius  IV.,  6 

Pope,  Thomas,  76 

Porson,  Richard,  68,  124,  126,  278 

Portal,  Gerald,  282 

'Posers,'  183,  184 

Pote  family,  115,  267 

Pote,  Joseph,  115 

Powell,  Edward,  27,  52 


INDEX 


313 


Poyntz,  Stephen,  103 

Praed,  W.  M.,  165,  265,  266-7,  278 

Praepostors,  63,  64,  65,'66,  144,  145 

Preparatory  Schools,  208-9 

Piice,  John,  91 

Prince  Consort,  137, 179,  185,  187, 

191,  192 
Printers,  Etonian,  290-1 
Printinj,'-press,    Sir   H.    Savile's, 

39-40,  133-4 
Prizes,  178-80 
Protliero,  G.  W.,  288 
Provost,  office  of,  4-5,  29,  216-18 
Provosts — 

Aldrich,  Robert,  32-3,  53 
Allestree,    Richard,    92-3,    98, 

132,  133 
Barnard,  Edward,   115-6,    119, 

120,  127 
Bm,    William,  35-6,   57,    181, 

187 
Bland,  Henry,  96,  104,  106 
Bost,  Henry,  23,  25,  29-30,  56, 

188,  231 
Clerk,  John,  19 
Cole,  Henry,  35 
Cradock,  Zachary,  97,  98 
Day,  William,  37,  38 
Godolphin,  Henry,  97,  98,  134, 

139,  204 
Goodall,    Joseph,    153-4,    156, 
157,  158,  167,  173-4,  176,  188, 
196,  255 
Goodford,  Charles  Old,   195-6, 

202,  214,  226,  256 
Hawtrey,  Edward  Craven,  131, 
154,  169,170,  171,  173, 176-SO, 
192,  194-6,  201,  220,  256,  259, 
267 
Hodgson,  Francis,   130,   175-6, 

180,  184,  188,  189,  192,  194 
Hornby,    James    John,     213, 
225-8,  243 


Provosts — contiriited — 
Lockyer,  Nicholas,  90 
Lupton,  Roger,  25-7,  30-2,  59, 

135 
Meredith,  John,  91,  93 
Monck,  Nicholas,  90-1 
Murray,  Thomas,  40,  41 
Roberts,     William     Hayward, 

125,  127-8 
Rous,  Francis,  87-90,  237 
Savile,   Sir   Henry,   39-41,   70, 

80,  81,  84,  132,  133,  135,  136, 

170 
Sever,  Henry,  5,  10,  46 
Sleech,  Stephen,  107,  113,  118 
Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  33-4,  37 
Steward,  Richaid.  84,  86 
Waynflete,  William  of,  10-12, 

14,  15,  22,  24,  46,  48,  49,  58,  70 
Wes-tbury,  William,  19-21,  23, 

49,  52 
Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  41-4,  81-4. 

92 
Public  School,  the  functions  of  a, 
276-8  ;  compared  to  a  garden, 
276-8 
Public    Schools    Latin    Primer, 

205-6 
Publishers,  Etonian,  291 
Puller,  Christopher,  129 
Pusey,  E.  B.,  163,  286 

'Quadruple  Alliance,'  108 
Quarterly  Reviev,  173,  264 

Racquets,  251 

Radlcy  School,  257 

Raikes,  Thomas  ('  Apollo"),  130 

Ralph     Roister   Doister,    54,    63. 

137 
Ramme,  Thomas,  74 
Rasch,  F.  C.  292 
Rawlinson,  J.  F.  P..  289 


314 


INDEX 


Rawlinson,  Richard,  110 
Rawlinson,  Thomas,  110 
Rawlinson  MSS.,  The,  110 
Rayleigh,  Lord,  288 
Rebellion  in  the  School,  120 
Redesdale,  Lord,  162 
Reeve,  Henry,  199,  200 
Reform  at  Eton,  172,   173,   174, 

176-93 
Reform  Bill,  171-2 
Reformation,  Etonian  adherents 

of  the,  75-6 
Religion  at  Eton,  221,  222,  231 
Rennell,  Thomas,  264 
Reynolds,  Thomas,  107 
Rhodes,  F.  W.,  289 
Richard  III.,  23,  71 
Rickards,  G.  K.,  165 
Riding,  253 
Ridley,  A.  W.,  245 
Ridley,  Thomas,  70 
Rightmse,  John,  146,  147,  148 
Riley,  Athelstan,  288 
Ritchie,  R.  T.  W.,  284 
Ritchie,  William,  163 
Rivers,  Earl,  22 
Roberts,  Lord,  289 
Roberts,  William  Hayward,  125, 

127-8 
Roderick,  Charles,  95 
RoUe,  Mark,  292 
Rose,  W.  S.,  129 
Rosebery,  Earl  of,  162,  280 
Rosewell,  John,  95,  159-60 
Rotherham,   Archbishop,   23,  70, 

71 
Roublot,  M.,  214 
Round,  James,  245,  291 
Rous,  Francis,  87-90,  237 
Rowing  from  Oxford  to  London 

in  a  day,  156 
Royal  Commission  on  Charities 

(1818),  173 


Royal  Commission  on  Public 
Schools  (1861),  199-213;  the 
Commissionei's,  199 ;  charges 
made  against  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Foundation,  202-5  ; 
and  of  the  School,  205-11  ; 
inquiries  as  to  the  tone  of  the 
School,  211  ;  Report,  212 

Royal  visitors  to  Eton,  26,  38,  39, 
69,  114,  118,  127,  137,  152,  191, 
192 

Rudimenta  Granimatices,  147 

Rugby  School,  149-50,  196-7, 
198,  199,  248 

Ruggles-Brise,  E.  J.,  285 

Russell,  Charles,^292 

Russell,  George,  292 

Russell,  Lord  John,  172,  192 

Ryan,  C.  L.,  284 

Ryle,  A.  J.,  291 

Ryle,  H.  E.,  288 

Ryle,  J.  C,  163,  242,  286 

Sacheveeell,  Robert,  259 
SackviUe,  Sir  Richard,  69,  234 
St.  George's  Chapel,  attempt  to 

amalgamate  Eton  College  with, 

19-21 
St.  Paul's  School,  146-8,  199 
Saints'  days,  58-63 
Salisbury,  Marquess  of,  162,  280 
Sanatorium,  69,  185 
Sancroft,  Archbishop,  97-8,  100 
Sanderson,  T.  H.,  284 
Sandwich,  Earl  of,  111,  240-1 
Saunders,  Laurence,  75 
Savile,  Sir  Henry,  39-41,  70,  80, 

81,    84,     132,    133,     135,     136, 

170 
Scarlett,  James,  166 
Scholars,  47,  48,  50,  51,  55,  57,  62, 

63,  83,  145,  180-5,  204-5,  222-4, 

227,  242,  248,  257,  259 


INDEX 


815 


Scholenuister,  Ascham's,  69,  159, 
234-5 

Scott,  €.  B.,  214,  287 

Scott-Holland,  Hemy,  286 

Scale- Hayne,  C,  280 

Selborne,  Earl  of,  214,  215 

Selwyn,  C.  J.,  164 

Sehvyn,  E,  C,  288 

Sehvyn,  G.  A.,  Ill 

Sel-nyn,  G.  A.,  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field, 164,  259,  262,  265,  293 

Sehvyn,  J.  R.,  286 

Selwyn,  William,  129 

Sehvyn,  William,  164 

Senior,  N.  W.,  155 

Sever,  Henry,  5,  10,  46 

Seymour,  G.  H.,  163 

Shadwell,  Lancelot,  129 

Shakespeare  and  the  Poets  of 
Antiquity,  a  Disquisition  at 
Eton,  85-6 

Shaw-Lefevre,  G.  J.,  280 

Shaw-Lefevre,  J.  G.,  156 

Sheep's  Bridge,  236 

Shelley,  P.  B.,  156, 165,  168-9,278 

Sherbrooke,  H.  N.,  266 

Sherlock,  Thomas,  102 

Sherwood,  Reuben,  70 

'  Shirking,'  253,  256 

'Shooting  Fields,'  235,  237,  246 

Shore,  Jane,  21-3 

Shrewsbury  School,  197,  198,  199 

Shrove  Tuesday  sports,  59 

Shute,  R.,  287 

Simeon,  Charles,  126 

Singleton,  Tiiomas,  91 

'  Sixpenny,'  246,  247 

Slade,  Wyndham,  289 

Sleech,  Henry,  114 

Sieech,  Richard,  113 

Sleech,  Stephen,  107,  113,  118 

Smith,  Gerard,  283 

Smith,  Gokhvin,  288 


Smith,  Reginald  J.,  viii. 

Smith,  R.  P.  ('Bobus'),  122,  125, 

152,  246,  264 
Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  33-4,  37 
Smith,  William,  115 
Smith-Barry,  A.  H..  292 
Smyth,  Clement,  20,  51-2 
Smyth,  William,  125 
Snape,  Andrew,  95-6,    101,   103, 

107,  141,  150-1 
Snow,  Henry,  242 
Soldiers  and  sailors  educated  at 

Eton,  79,  112,  117-8,  289-90 
Somerset,   Protector,  27,  33,  36, 

54,  136 
Speech  Room,  269 
'Speeches,'  68,  127,  152,  269 
Spier's  sock-shop,  168-9 
Spring-Rice,  C.  A.,  26(),  285 
Spring-Rice.  S.  E.,  284 
Stained -glass  windows,  186-7 
Stanbridge,  John,  147,  158-9 
Stanbury,  John,  5 
Stanho))e,  first  Earl,  102 
Stanhope,  third  Earl,  117 
Stanhope,  George,  101 
Stanley,  Lyulph,  288 
Steevens,  George,  115 
Stephen,  J.  F.,  289 
Stephen,  J.  K.,  266 
Stephen,  Leslie,  290 
Stevenson,  Thomas,  56,  66 
Steward,  Richard,  84,  86 
Stokes,  G.  G..  214,  215 
Stokke,  William,  79 
Storer,  A.  M.,  117,  136 
Story,  Julian,  291 
Story,  Waldo,  2511 
Straflbrd,  I'.arl  of,  2S() 
Stratford  do  Reddille,  Lord.  129, 

155,  241, 264 
Stuart  de  Decies,  Lord,  16.3 
Stuart  de  Rothesay,  Lord,  129 


316 


INDEX 


Stuart,  Patrick,  129 
Sturgis,  Howard,  290 
Sturgis,  Julian,  290 
Suckling,  Sir  John,  85 
Suffolk,  Duke  of,  7,  9,  12,  16,  18, 

50 
Sumner,  C.  R,  155 
Sumner,  John,  107,  113  15 
Sumner,  J.  B.,  129,  168-9 
Sumner,  R.  C,  151 
'Sunday  Questions,'  196 
Sutton,  C.  M.,  129 
Sutton,  Thomas,  76 
Swayne,  Arthur,  87 
Swinburne,  A.  C,  290 

Tabley,  Lord  de,  290 

Talbot,  Lord  Chancellor,  102 

Tapestry  in  the  Chapel,  268 

Tarver,  Francis,  213,  269 

Tarver,  Heniy,  214 

Taylor,  C.  G.,  242 

Taylor,  G.  W.,  291 

Taylour,  John,  78 

Temple,  Earl,  105 

Temple,  William,  78 

Tennis,  250-1 

Tennyson,  Frederick,  165 

Terence,  53 

Thackeray,  R.  M.,  130 

Thackeray,  Thomas,  103,  150-1 

Thames,    importance   of  the,   to 

Eton,  259-60,  272 
Theatrical  performances,  54, 63, 68 
Thesiger,  Alfred,  289 
Thicknesse,  Ralph,  107-8 
Thomas,  Thomas,  77 
Thompson,  W.  H.,  199,  200,  214, 

215 
Thornton,  C.  I.,  245 
'  Threepenny  Day,'  32 
Thring,  EdAvard,  193,  288 
Thriscrosse,  Timothy,  97 


Tiemey,  George,  123 

'Timbralls,'9,  247 

Tinn4  J.  E.,  266 

Tobacco,    the    boys    ordered    to 

smoke,  94 
'  Tom  Jones  '  quoted,  105-6 
Tomline  Prize,  178-9 
Towne,  William,  71 
Townsliend,  C.  F.,  262 
Townsheud,  Horatio,  129 
Townsliend,  Lord,  102 
'Trials,'  144,  177 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  140, 

148 
Trinity  College,  Oxford,  76 
'  Triumvirate,'  108 
Tryon,  George,  290 
Tubman,  Nicholas,  76 
Tucker,  W.  H.,  275. 
Tufnell,  Henry,  162 
'  Tugs.'     See  Scholars.      For  the 

derivation  of  the  word,  see  p. 

183%. 
Turner,  C,  193 
Turnor,  Algernon,  284 
Tusser,  Thomas,  78,  159 
Tutors,    66,  68,  96,  104,  141,  142, 

180,  209-10 
Twisleton,  E.  B.,  199,  200 

Udall,  Nicholas,  53-4,  63,  69,  78, 

137,  148,  159 
Upman,  Stephen,  100,  113 
'  LTpper  School,'  93,  95,  132-3,  177, 

205,  269 
Uppingham  School,  193,  288 
Urmson,  G.  H.,  289 
Usher.     See  Lower-master 

Vansittart-Neale,  H.  F.,  284 
Vaughan,  H.  H.,  199,  200-1 
Venables,  Canon,  287 
Venn,  Colonel,  87 


INDEX 


317 


Vesej',  Elizabeth,  103 
Vesey,  Thomas,  103 
Vice-Provost,  office  of,  219 
Victoria,  Queen,    137,    175,    192, 

261 
Views  of  the  College,  132-5 
Vincent,  Edgar,  282 
Vivian,  Lord,  285 
Volunteer  Corps,  261 
Vulgaria  Pueroi'um,  52 

Waddington,  Bishop,  101,  136 

Waddington,  Rodolph,  148 

Wagner,  H.  M.,  163 

Waldegrave,  fifth  Earl,  viii., 
259 

Waldegrave,  ninth  Earl,  viii. 

Walker,  W.  Sidney,  165 

Waller,  Edmund,  92,  98,  99 

Walpole,  Horace,  108,  118,  237-8, 
240 

Walpole,  Horace,  Lord,  102 

Walpole,  H.  G.,  284 

Walpole,  Robert,  101-2 

Walpole,  Spencer,  162,  214 

Walpole,  Spencer,  284 

Walrond,  William,  280 

Walsingliani,  Lord,  292 

Walton,  Izaak,  43,44,  81,82 

Wantage,  Lord,  292 

Warburton,  Henry,  130 

Ward,  William,  77 

Warre,  Edmond,  213,  226-7,  261 

Wars  of  the  Roses,  17-21 

Warwick,  Philip,  99 

Waterford,  Marquess  of,  292 

Watson,  John,  74 

Watts,  G.  F.,  268 

Wayntlete,  William  of,  first  Head- 
master of  Eton,  10,  46 ;  succeeds 
Sever  as  Provost,  10  ;  advises 
the  connection  of  Eton  with 
King's,    11,    48;     installed    as 


Provost,  12  ;  nominated  as 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  14  ;  con- 
secrated at  Eton,  15;  his  ser- 
vices to  Eton,  15,  20,  22,  49,  70  ; 
death,  24  ;  commemoration,  58 

Weaver,  Thomas,  138,  140 

Welby,  Lord,  284 

Welldon,  J.  E.  C,  12,  151,  286 

Wellesley,  Gerald,  264 

Wellesley,  Marquess  of,  121-2, 
127,  207,  278,  281,  295 

Wellesley,  Richard.  264 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  122,  246, 
278,  289 

Wemj'ss,  Earl  of,  292 

West,  Algernon,  292 

West,  Gilbert,  105 

West,  Nicholas,  72-3 

AVest,  Richard,  108,  109 

Westbury,  William,  19-21,  23, 
49,  52 

Westminster  School,  148,  149, 
199,  253,  256,  257,  260 ;  cricket 
matches  against,  241 

Weston,  Edward,  103 

Weston,  Steplieu,  101,  113.  134 

'Weston's  Yard,'  101,  113,  1.34, 
170,  181,  184-5,  267 

'Wet  bobs,'  247,  258 

Weye,  William,  .50-1 

Whist,  128 

Whitbread,  Samuel,  123 

Whitehead,  Thomas,  75 

Whittington,  Kobert,  147 

Whyte-Melville,  G.  .1.,  165 

Wickens,  John,  164,  265 

Wickham,  William,  3K 

Wilberforce,  P.asii,  286 

Wilder,  Charios,  187 

Wilder,  John,  169,  187,  193 

Wilkinson,  C.  A.,  275 

Willert,  P.  F.,  287 

William  IIL,  I'.tl 


318 


INDEX 


Williams,  Bishop,  40,  4'2 

Williams,  C.  Hanbury,  106 

Williams,  E.  P.,  267 

Williams,  Rowlaud,  287 

Willymott,  William,  101 

Wilson,  A.  K.,  290 

Wilson,  C.  Rivers,  282 

Wilson,  R.  K.,  288 

Wilson,  Thomas,  74 

Winchester  Colle^ie,  3,  10,  13, 
17,  28,  46,  47,  48,  145-6,  173, 
190,  199,  224,  248;  cricket 
matches  against,  241,  242,  244, 
245 

Winchilsea,  Earls  of,  240,  292 

Windham,  William,  116 

Windsor  Castle,  2,  6,  19,  25,  49, 
57,  69,  128,  152,  261 

Windsor,  Lord,  280 


Winterton,  Ralph,  77 
Wodehouse,  Philip,  283 
WoUey-Dod,  Mr.,  271 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  148 
Wood,  W.W.,  266,291 
Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  41-4,  81-4,  92 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  140-1 
Wright,  Richard,  70 
Wykeham,  William  of,  3,;i3 
Wyndham,  George,  280 
Wyndham,  William,  102 

YONGE,  CD.,  165 
Yonge,  George,  243 
Young,  Edward,  111 
Young,  E.  M.,  288 
Young,  George,  285 
Young,  W.  M.,  282 
Younge,  John,  87 


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